Digital

Article

Managing Yourself

How to Develop a Strong

Work Ethic
Hiring managers want to see your motivation, can-do attitude, and
dedication. by Tutti Taygerly

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How to Develop a Strong

Work Ethic
Hiring managers want to see your motivation, can-do attitude, and
dedication. by Tutti Taygerly
Published on HBR.org / September 14, 2022 / Reprint H07881

MirageC/Getty Images

Have you ever wondered about how to behave appropriately at

work? Throughout your career, and especially in the early years, it’s
challenging to figure out what behaviors and attitudes are and are
not acceptable in different professional environments. The more you
traverse companies and industries, the clearer your understanding will
become. When you’re just starting out, though, it can be hard to pin
down these behaviors.

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Even so, employers are now expecting more of entry-level workers.

Degrees from prestigious institutions aren’t enough. A 2022 Job Outlook
survey found that 87% of employers say professionalism is very
important, but only 44% of new grads are proficient in it. Companies
and hiring managers want to see your motivation, can-do attitude, and
commitment or dedication. In other words, they want to see that you
have good work ethic.

As an early career professional, this is foundational to your long-term

success. So, how can you develop good work ethic, faster?

What is work ethic? What are qualities of good and poor work
ethic?

Work ethic refers to a set of moral principles, values, and attitudes

around how to act at work. While this may vary depending on your
organization and company culture, there are a few universal qualities
of both good and poor work ethic. Throughout my 22 years in tech,
and now, as an executive coach who teaches leaders how to scale their
teams, I’ve identified four qualities that exemplify good work ethic:

• Reliability and dependability: You need to meet deadlines on time,

act appropriately in virtual and in-person meetings, and navigate
different communication styles. You need to regularly deliver on these
behaviors.
• Productivity: You need to consistently navigate your priorities and
find smart ways to use your time, complete important the tasks, and
deliver high-quality results.
• Ownership and autonomy: You need to exercise initiative, and show
that you can take direction from others, learn, and improve.
• Collaboration and team support: You need to have the foresight
to look beyond your individual role and establish positive working

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relationships with others. Support the responsibilities of your team

and act as a team player.

All four qualities demonstrate professional integrity, or the practice of

showing a strong commitment to ethical behavior at work.

In contrast, examples of bad work ethic include:

• Low work quality

• Consistent tardiness
• Lack of attention to deadlines
• Focusing on your own goals at the expense of the greater team or
company goals
• Abuse and harassment, whether of the most explicit variety or the
unconscious, micro-aggressions and sabotaging of others.

How to Build Strong Work Ethic

Although many traits reflective of strong work ethic may come naturally
to us, they can also be learned, developed, and sharpened. Here’s some
tips on how to start.

Follow the lead of peers, mentors, and bosses.

When you’re the “new person” at work, the best way to learn is to
observe. Pay attention to how your coworkers behave in meetings
to gain a better understanding of their “etiquette,” as well as the
communication styles of different people and teams.

Some workplaces, for instance, require employees to prepare agendas

before meetings and are strict about punctuality. Others are more
casual. Some companies have formal communication practices around
status updates, whereas others just ask that you send a quick Slack
message. Likewise, depending on where you work, deadlines may be

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rigid or flexible. Observing others and following their lead will help you
pick up on what the company and managers consider good work ethic.

In addition, you can be proactive and reach out to your manager or an

onboarding buddy during your first few days on the job. Ask them “how
things are done” at your company. You could say: “Would it be helpful
for us to have a daily catch-up for the first two weeks? Since I’m new
to this organization, I’d love for you to guide me on what’s appropriate
and what expectations you have of me when it comes to how work gets
done.” This interaction will show your team that you have a positive
attitude and are open to following the lead of others.

Develop self-discipline.
To be reliable, dependable, and productive in the workplace, you
need self-discipline. Of course, we all have periods where we’re
less productive, procrastinate more, and are working through stress.
However, self-discipline is the process of understanding how we work,
including knowing our work rhythms and where we can push ourselves.
Self-discipline is a skill that will make you appear more professional to
your coworkers and bosses.

Developing self-discipline involves understanding self-control, as well

as how to maintain your energy. Think about what tasks feel easy for
you to do (the ones that give you energy) and what tasks feel harder
(the ones that drain you). Then, think about what tasks have the greatest
impact on the company, what tasks will help you reach your goals, and
what tasks are lower priority. Allocate most of your time to the tasks
that both give you energy and are also impactful for the company or are
contributing to your goals.

When evaluating the tasks that are harder for you to accomplish,
consider making some simple tweaks to optimize your energy — such as

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collaborating with a co-worker or giving yourself a reward when they’re

completed.

Re-prioritize each day, and start it strong.

If you consistently manage your time wisely, you’ll develop a reputation
of professionalism and integrity. It’s a skill that will help you deliver
high-quality work, even among rapidly shifting priorities and in fast-
paced work environments.

At the start of each day, spend a few minutes identifying what items
you need to get done. The trick is to find a balance between tasks that
are urgent and must be finished today and tasks that are contributing
to longer term, but equally important, projects. Use strategies like time-
boxing to organize your schedule. Make sure you’re allocating enough
time to hit your immediate deadlines, but also allocating some time
to making progress on those bigger projects — even 30 minutes each
morning can make a difference.

Too many of us make the mistake of procrastinating our hardest work.

If this is the case for you, try to map out a few milestones you need
to hit and by when to deliver results in a timely manner. The more
you exercise this muscle by doing small, important tasks every day, the
stronger your mental rigor will become.

Think like an owner.

An essential part of building good work ethic is adopting a “do it like
you own it” attitude. You can do this by being proactive in small, but
powerful, ways.

For instance, if something doesn’t make sense to you — the purpose

of an assignment, the execution of a task, or an unclear goal —
ask questions to gain clarity. You might say: “I think I understand
how this project will help us meet our initial goal, but I’m having a

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hard time understating how it contributes to the larger goals of the

organization. I think knowing this will help me do better work and
deliver stronger results for you and the team. Can you provide some
guidance?” Similarly, if you have a suggestion for another way to do
things, speak up, but do so with respect.

Keep pushing to understand the right amount of autonomy that feels

good for both you and your boss.

Hold the team interests higher than your own.

It’s easy to get focused on your day-to-day tasks and what it takes to
get you promoted or rewarded at work. But don’t be the lone wolf who
comes in, gets their work done, and berates others when they fail to
meet deadlines.

Instead, consider a different approach. When someone lets you down,

think about how you can support them so that the entire team will
benefit. Embrace your inner team player and try different strategies
for working smoothly with your peers, such as having a courageous
conversation to understand their differing perspective, or recognizing
that if your idea wasn’t adopted, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t valuable, it’s
probably that it wasn’t right for the time.

Ultimately, your goals should be to adopt a positive attitude. Remember

that collaboration will greatly increase the impact of the work you do.
You’ll also develop a reputation for reliability. When you hold the team
interests higher than your own, you show the team and the company
that you care about the big picture and are a team player.

Practicing these five strategies will develop a strong work ethic, setting
you up to be more easily hirable for future jobs. It develops your
reputation and creates the foundation for a successful career.

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This article was originally published online on September 14, 2022.

Tutti Taygerly is an executive coach and speaker with 20+ years of

product design experience in Silicon Valley. Her book Make Space
to Lead: Break Patterns to Find Flow and Focus on What Matters
Most (Taygerly Labs, 2021) shows high achievers how to reframe their
relationship to work.

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This article is licensed for your personal use. Further posting, copying, or distribution is not permitted. Copyright Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. Please contact
customerservice@harvardbusiness.org or 800 988 0886 for additional copies.