The other day I was talking on the phone with my sister. She's been on a "short term" medical leave for the last 5 weeks or so. She was talking about going back early from her "leave" because she was feeling better. She said she didn't want to "milk" the system. She then says I guess I got the "Klanac Work Ethics". Meaning, you place a lot of time and effort in your work/career. That you don't stop when the clock says 5:00pm, you stop when your work is done.
Klanac is my maiden name. My Dad is 81+ years old and he still works. He "retired" from the job he held for 57 years a little over a year ago. However, his employer was hard-press to let him leave permanently and offered him a "consulting" gig. Essentially, my Dad is working 15-20 hours a week and it pays for his "medical insurance". Not a bad gig for him to have, as it keeps his mind sharp and it helps keep the medical finances in check! So a win-win situation on all fronts. His "employer" gets the 57 years of knowledge and good reputation and my Dad still feels like he has a purpose in life. I can tell you that my Dad does not stop at 20 hours a week, he will work on a project until it is done!
My two brothers have inherited this way of thinking as well, work comes first. You take a project to completion, you meet your deadlines and you don't punch out because everyone else does. I was a worker like that as well back in my full-time working days.
So back to my sister's and my conversation about when she should go back to work. I know some people of a younger generation suggested she take the full amount approved in her leave - why not? She was given that approved time off. I so understand why she thinks she should go back early, because of the "guilt" associated with feeling better and being able to "galavant" around without discomfort, yet your "medical leave" hasn't expired yet. It's that nagging feeling as though you are "milking" the system. A job is important and you never want an employer to think you are taking advantage, I can promise you my sister is not one to take advantage! The only thoughts I could offer up was that if her physician felt she was okay to go back then, maybe going back "early" is the right thing to do. However, I did caution her that she had major surgery and she really needs to make sure that she is "healed", that she will be able to "lift" and do other basic essentials of her job. The last thing she wants is to injure her surgical area. I'm pretty sure her employer doesn't want that to happen because that would cause her to be absent another x-number of days/weeks if it were to happen.
Then we got to talking about miscellaneous fellow employees over the course of years while we were employed and it seems like there is a generational view point to what defines good work ethics. Generation X'ers are typically byproducts of parents in the "Boomer Years" that worked and worked and worked some for sport, some to have fabulous careers and money and others because they needed to in order to exist. Generation X'ers were typically "latch-key" kids and they didn't want to "end up like their parent(s)" and have taken a more lax approach towards employment. They also feel that they don't have to work hard to climb the ladder, they can just hop on and coast on up the escalator to get to the top. I fall in between the "boomers" and the "Xers" - sort of misplaced, but I have the mindset of the generation that produced the "boomers" - as does my siblings.
I currently hold a part-time job that I am able to work from home. The company is a fabulous company to work for. I love the fact that I have flexibility in hours and I can work part-time from home. Although I do miss the social contact of working in an office, this job fits my time and place in life right now. Not exactly a job that I had envisioned me doing upon graduating with my Masters, but it keeps me feeling useful in the "work world". Anyway, I was given a project and was told it was "hot" and the hope was that I would complete it by the end of the day, which for me is typically 4 hours. When my 4 hours were up, I was only 1/2 way done with the project, I think the amount of work was under estimated. So I worked 5 more hours to complete the project yesterday and this morning, so that I could turn in the project on time. My husband was shocked that I was up until midnight last night working and then working an additional hour this morning. To me it was a "no brainer", I promised I would have it completed by early today and I wanted to make sure I delivered on my promise. Plus, jobs like I have don't come around very often, so I don't want to screw this up. I want to always have my best foot forward.
When I was laying in bed last night, a bit wound up from working until midnight, I started pondering the conversation my sister and I were having about work ethics and the whole "generational" aspect of it. My husband falls under the "Xers" by his age - and how he thought was an "X'ers" comment. Mind you, he is not a slacker, he too goes the extra mile for his job, if he didn't we couldn't be married. Although I get annoyed that he works late some times or his schedule changes on a dime, I'm proud that he puts his career and job high on his priority list.
Then this got me to thinking about Steve Jobs. He was so not a slacker in his work life. He was the epitome of strong work ethics. He reaped rewards because he worked hard and didn't expect the world owed him anything, he just went out and worked hard to get whatever it was that he wanted. It helped that he was a brilliant man both in technology and business. I hope the "slacker" generation realizes that someday (maybe even now in this economy) fast talking doesn't keep you employed, but hard honest work and dedication does.
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