By Datin T.D. Ampikaipakan

Anyone, anywhere in the world must surely know the importance and value of effort. Who would not welcome and respond to a system that grants opportunities and advantages to people on the basis of how well they perform in a job? We all have different abilities. Some of us are brilliant, both academically and on a more artistic level. These are the Nobel Prize winners and the creative geniuses. Then there are those who are clever enough to find their market niche. There are also those who have taken the risk, with the help of their uncanny abilities, and made it work, not only for themselves but for the rest of the world too.

Amidst all these people we have the “plodders”, people whom we need for routine jobs, jobs that require little or no imagination, jobs that sap the energy of those performing them. These people are the rubbish collectors, the security guards, the factory workers, the toll collectors. The group also includes waitresses, clerks and front-liners. Yet all of these plodders are vital to the workforce and without them, the fabric of the business world would unravel.

Hordes of people look upon their daily responsibilities as uninspiring – chores necessary for that vital pay packet that keeps body and soul and family together. If you were to ask these people whether they are thrilled to get up in the morning to go to work, they’ll most likely look at you as if you need your head examined. Hence the pertinent question: “What is the value of human effort?”

In business etiquette, work is regarded as something more than just enjoying the morning, lunch and tea breaks, the five/six o’clock workday and pay day. It is often said that in order to move up the corporate ladder, you must know what you are doing, like what you are doing and believe in what you are doing. But try telling that to the dispatch clerk. Try telling him that his effort is vital to the organization. Treat his job as an important part of the business world. Give him some credit so that he does his job with pride and joy.

Know What You Are Doing

Ask a person who is successful and he/she will tell you that he made it because he/she did not fight shy of doing chores that were unpleasant. Winners prepare, study, get trained, apply themselves and work to become the best at what they do. They excel because they are not picky about the jobs they have to do. I knew of a CEO who hired people and on the first day, made the person the telephone operator for a day. There was the case of the engineer who had to become the operator and at the end of the day, indignantly walked into the CEO’s office and told him that he did not study for four years to become the telephone operator. In reply the boss told him that if he did not appreciate the value of human effort in a job as simple as manning the telephone, he did not deserve to work in his company.

Like What You Are Doing

This is a tough one. How many of us really love what we do? And if we do, we are the most blessed on this earth. I think it was Confucius who said that if we love what we do, we do not have to work a day in our life. But we live in a world where there are far and few positions people automatically love. Hence, people end up spending three-quarters of their week doing something they do not like so that they can spend the remaining quarter doing what they enjoy. Fundamentally, what we regard as a bore or pleasure depends entirely on our mental attitude. The bottom-line – learn to enjoy what you do. The secret to success, happiness, satisfaction and possibly fulfillment in your job, no matter how menial, is not doing what one really likes, but in liking what one is asked to do. This is the true value of human effort.

Do You Believe In What You Do?

When you talk to successful people they will tell you that they are not in a job “for something to do”… they are in their work “to do something”. This is not easy for the person who is struggling with a boring job to understand but in the etiquette of the business world you are expected to go beyond your job description, title, the “to do lists” and even your pay cheque. You are expected to look at the vision, mission and the goals of the organization.

There is yet another way to value human effort, and that is by appreciating the persons who do the various jobs that can be found within an organization. When was the last time you, as a boss, showed your appreciation for employees when they sent out letters efficiently or thanked the receptionist for doing a good job of looking after visitors to your office?

We expect our staff to motivate themselves and maintain the right attitude. We complain about staff who have bad moods and who show no interest in the jobs they do. We are critical about those who do not perform to our expectations. Have we for a moment stopped to think of the monotony involved in a routine job? Day in, day out, they go through the motions, doing the same repetitive tasks. And it is a thankless job.

Just listen to the tone of voice supervisors’ use when they speak to their staff. The subordinates receive no feedback about how well they have performed, they receive no motivation, no thank yous for a job well done and at the end of the year, no bonus for effort. Now give me one good reason why subordinates must show loyalty when their bosses have no appreciation or concept of the jobs they do.

There is a way to understand the value of human effort. It takes a great deal of courage and determination on the part of management to enforce this discipline.

Every supervisor selected has to or must learn to perform some of the tasks done by their subordinates. Every boss has to measure the effectiveness of the job done, however small it may be.

As a leader, you need to show appreciation for the job done and constantly acknowledge that you care about staff welfare.

There must be a reason for employees to do more than what they are paid to do, there must be a reason for employees to volunteer to be part of a team on a project, there must be a reason for a staff to try that much harder to please the boss.

I had a boss who was the best boss ever. He was strict, disciplined and had the uncanny ability to get his staff to do their best. When we had to work late, he would stay and see that we made our phone calls home to tell the family that we would be late.

He would provide dinner, which would be according to individual tastes. He would have no qualms about picking up a broom to sweep a dirty floor. Every time he wanted to make a change, he would consult his employees and did what the majority wished. He showed me no job is beneath us. He was a true leader by example.

All he expected of us was to do our jobs and love it! He showed by example what the value of human effort really is to a worker.