I had to fire someone today. This is the second time. I don't like to do it, but it becomes necessary. Part of me feels badly, but both times the person had multiple chances to resolve the issues, and chose not to.
Work ethic is very important, and now that I have the point of view of someone in authority, I realize how difficult it can be to find someone who naturally has a strong work ethic and is humble as well. I have had employees who work hard, but expect that they should be treated special. I have had employees who work hard, but are not very effective, because they are poor team players and instead of fixing problems, they assign blame to their superiors (even when there is no reasonable way to do this).
I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and a strong work ethic has been strongly implanted in me. However, something that I find much more valuable now is humility. Which is also taught in the congregation. A humble person will be on time, because they feel that it is an important part of respecting my authority. A humble person will give me an honest day's work, because they don't feel that they deserve special treatment. A humble person listens to and accepts correction, and accepts responsibility. They don't waste time blaming others. A humble person is teachable. They will learn with time, and learn to do something properly and to the best of their ability.
In short, I find many workers are haughty and unreliable. Either attendance is an issue, or work quality is an issue. When I find a humble worker (which we do have a handful of), I will go out of my way to teach them to be effective and would want to work with them if life interferes with their ability to do their job. I would rather be understaffed with humble inexperienced workers than overstaffed with haughty experienced workers. I feel that I would be firing people a lot less often, and that we would get more work done, and done right the first time.
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