Many countries of the world have now seized the ladder of success and socio-economic triumph following their strong working culture and determination of each and every citizen for real change in all aspects. Hence, marching against poor working culture must be a culture in Ethiopia if it would love to emancipate itself and its citizens from being dependent on aids and grants as well as the nostalgia of dependency syndrome regarding all aspects.
I am always thinking of on how to improve working culture thereby bringing about tangible difference regarding social, economic, political or other related facets thinking out of the box and being gritty than ever before to dramatically transform Ethiopia to the developed world via working hard and effectively and properly exploiting what it does have at hand.
Undeniably, Ethiopia is immensely endowed with a great deal of natural resource, tangible and intangible heritages, mesmerizing historical places as well as a range of tourist attraction sites. When I thought to produce this piece what a Chinese friend of mine once told me about developing working culture and its significance came to my mind and started soliciting ideas in that regard. Besides, Ethiopia’s affluence in all circumstances helped me generate ideas in all directions.
He cordially requested me observing employees returned office after three to four hours, leaving their office at 11:30 in the morning and came back at 2:30 in the afternoon that ‘For how many hours a day you people have dealt with tasks especially in public sector offices?’ I replied to his request saying a maximum of 8 hours and plus in some circumstances, accordingly.
“No! It is not fair, you have to improve your working culture and push your country steps forward as Ethiopia is devoid of nothing except some shortcomings regarding time management and better-quality work culture. You have to amalgamate synergy and work from dawn to dusk to meaningfully change your beloved country, rich in all aspects indeed!” he opined.
I, for the time being, was a bit offended and started retrieving the grain of truth in what he has uttered. Yes, we Ethiopians, have to capitalize on utilizing what our beloved country does have, effectively using time and reinvigorating the good aspects of working culture and smashing out the negative sides citizens have been reflecting with regard to completing tasks later and the spirit of procrastination.
Postponing activities or tasks for a later time has absolutely had negative impacts on the progress of the nation and the better livelihood of citizens. Hence, this has to be altered and we Ethiopians must highly value time and work. In clear terms, working on all types of work and avoiding spirit of engagement discrimination, as some would love to engage in baked bread and white collar protocol, helps the nation gain what it deserves and citizens be people of their dream.
Transforming a working culture into a well lucrative approach via dealing with all activities pays off. Working culture, which refers to an overall operational trend and ethos, as well as the values and initiatives that set the tone for how citizens perceive the work or engagement they have run, is of significantly useful in renovatingthe nation, Ethiopian in this context, and its inhabitants across the nation and beyond.
In most cases, improving working culture takes a range of measures to change the functioning culture in Ethiopia as entrenched spirit of having cooked assignment and readymade exertion has been inculcated in the minds of many. Yes, Ethiopia has housed a number of energetic and productive human powers. Employment rate has to be made higher and pushed to boom as the best way to keep jobs is to show companies, organizations, institutions and many business entities that workers are so invaluable that the former simply could hardly survive without the latter.
Workers of any organization have to be part of the bottom line, which means if workers want to be valuable to their respective organizations, they need to help it make money and as profitable and flourished as possible. Yes, focusing on the activities that use time, skills, and resources most effectively to connect back to the bottom line is quite fundamental since it has been proved that tasks run by experts and skilled personal with the allotted time frame are backbone for bringing about sustainable change and growth.
Improved working culture with determined spirit for real modification matters the most here. Besides, citizens have to remember that time is money and regard it as the most invaluable commodity in human life; hence citizens have to spend time wisely. Especially Ethiopians should not invest eight hours a day sitting together talking about things sprinkled in vain and which do not hold water.
Workers or employees of any public sector office, company be it public or private, must be willing to discharge what is expected of them as pleasantly and promptly as possible as what they offer carries value for the change the country has aspired so long. Furthermore, Ethiopians have to confidently change the way they run activities and alter their attitude towards what a work or task or engagement is.
True, so long as arrangements help the bearer earn what they would love to get, though the amount varies, no work/job is lesser or greater. This essence of respecting engagements can be born to fertile mind appreciating the significance of good working culture. Optimistic gesture towards self-development, family happiness, and national change has been resulted from reinvigorating good working culture so the saying goes, ‘The fruit garnered from sweat is quite sweet,’ to say that sentiments to fatten personal gain and individual happiness at the expense of others’ wellbeing and safe life is good for nothing.
As part of the effort geared towards developing good working culture, fostering communication is well advised. Yes, communicating with people is an opportunity not only to transfer information but also to build relationships with a number of persons. As people’s conversations are becoming increasingly impersonal in the era of electronic communication, workers or employees or anyone running activities passerby must be able to interact with people and solve problems emanating from poor working culture.
People must positively demonstrate a can-do attitude to their workmates, immediate supervisors, team members, among other for it is part of increasing value at work by motivating themselves to take control of their own career. It is well recognized that the time people have wasted for their duty and responsibility makes their engagement so important.
Surprisingly, some chose a university degree just for fun and finished it because they started with no well-defined goal; no ambitions and they were just drifting through life. However, when people value time, they start valuing their life. They have to set priorities straight and start doing things that matter to them. Yes, it is when life gets really good coupled with spirit of good working culture.
Time is one thing we have in common as human race although the situation people have been through is different from one another, and time is human beings most precious commodity. Yes, people can’t buy more time no matter how rich they are, and they can’t save time either as they can only spend it.
Unequivocally, time waits for no one. Hence, the sooner people start valuing their time and discharge their respective duties and responsibilities, the better what they undertake would be. This definitely helps come up with good and rewarding working culture. The very important thing that needs to be taken into serious account is as people have limited time on this planet all, they need to make the most of it, indeed!
If good working culture develops and people are willing to entertain it with efficient time management, changes will knock their door in no time. Smart people know that time is money and if it is utilized under good working culture, nothing would be difficult in due course of bringing about growth and transformation. Once people have an idea of how they can improve working culture, they are all the time think of setting priorities and giving equal value to all engagements and advancing their career.
Mindfulness can help people stay focused on the present moment and become aware that each moment carries a choice around how they want to spend their time. This trend does have a direct bearing to good working culture as people with poor working culture do not value time and prompt implementation of tasks. Thus, people have to invest their time like they invest any other important resource and they should be intentional, deliberate, and rigorous.
In the auspicious of improved working culture, time management is not about masterfully squeezing as much as possible into narrowed intervals. Rather, it is about accepting there will never be enough time, so people or the bearers need to focus on getting the most important things done with the time they are given. Needless to state, knowing how to manage time properly brings a number of great benefits to work routines and life overall!
Truly speaking, creating a harmonious work-life balance or work-life integration through the determination of developing good working culture is critical as it is significantly useful in improving not only physical, emotional and mental well-being of citizens but it is also of instrumental in making careers so important which ultimately leads to defined social wellbeing, communal safety and national prosperity. Improving working culture and making the most of it is not something given to citizens as offers to be swallowed but it is a distinct practical move to be meaningfully portrayed as part and parcel of human life.
BY MENGESHA AMARE
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY 23 JULY 2023
