Having a good work ethic is imperative to succeed and to efficiently complete tasks. We have all dealt with lousy coworkers at one point or another in life and I have had my fair share of them. This does not just apply to coworkers; they could also be group project members or classmates. Nothing is worse than when you come into work to see that your coworkers for the shift are ones that do the absolute bare minimum while on shift or when you get put into a group for a project where you know you are going to be doing all the work.

Work ethic is a belief in the moral benefit and importance of work and its ability to strengthen character. In the jobs I have held and classes I have taken, I have met so many people who all have different standards when it comes to the quality of their work. I could never understand people who are satisfied with just doing the bare minimum. How does doing the bare minimum satisfy anyone? When doing a project with classmates or completing a shift at my job, I want to give 100% every single time. If you give about 50% what do you get out of it? You get people thinking you are unreliable, lazy, uncooperative, irresponsible and not a team player. That is the last thing I want to hear from a coworker or project member about myself. If someone were to ask a coworker on the last shift you worked or project member of the last assignment you did about you and your work ethic right now, would you be content with their response?

The most important characteristics of someone with a good work ethic are responsibility, reliability, being a team player, flexibility, and diligence. Someone responsible is accountable for their own work and will do everything in their power to do it on time and to the best of their ability. Someone who is reliable is willing to step in at any time to do anything that they are needed for without any hesitation. Someone who is a team player does not take on all the work for themselves and works independently, they build ideas with others. Someone who is flexible is open to new ideas and new methods of doing things, they are open minded. Someone who is diligent does their work carefully and consistently.

When working in a group or at your job, keep these qualities in mind. Remember to be responsible, be reliable, be a team player, be flexible and be diligent. If you gain these coveted characteristics, you will be utterly attractive to future employers and you will be your peers new favorite coworker or classmate.