A Well Known, Yet Undervalued Skill.

….Can you guess it?

One key skill to have that promotes yourself within a company is Work Ethic. I know….this sounds pretty cliche’, but it is a condition revered by grandfathers and bosses alike. It’s the ultimate reason why people grow in any company, in any industry. Work Ethic is a key factor in success and becoming successful. When you’re hired in a company and wonder how you get promoted in said company, your personal work ethic always plays an important role.

What is work ethic? It can mostly be boiled down to the amount of effort you exert in your position or on a project. It is subjectively measured, meaning your amount of effort is compared to your colleagues and coworkers or related to standards that were set previously. Two characteristics of work ethic are level of focus on a subject and amount completed in a time span. Both are positively correlated, where the more focused you are the more you complete in a certain amount of time.

How can one acquire it? It is usually instilled into ones core as a young child using authoritative family members as examples. You view the people around you and connect with the amount of focus and effort they place in tasks. As an adult, you put yourself in certain circles of people who all have high levels of work ethic. By mere association, their attitude and focus on their craft will rub off on you.

Work Ethic isn’t universal. A person with a “good” work ethic, if placed in a monotonous job will perform that task efficiently and continuously. But, the quality of their effort improves when you put them in a job they enjoy. The x-axis “focus” will increase, which in relation increases the y-axis “effort.” Here you hire people with a “good’ work ethic, but place them in positions where their work ethic is heightened.

There is no set scale that measures amount of work ethic. It is measured by previous standards or current co-workers/ colleagues. It can also be measured by an individual’s age and their certain accomplishments. If you are wondering how to be viewed as one with a “good” work-ethic, stop reading this. Get up, and get to work. Do something, but give it everything you’ve got. “Good” work ethic is not given, it is earned. Go work and prove you’ve got it in you!