Are You Providing an Essential Service?

Are you providing an essential service?

Are you providing your service in an essential way?

We keep hearing about the global credit crunch and how it is affecting business and how it is leading to job losses. What we are really seeing is a long overdue adjustment of business practice.

For too long business has focussed on “profit at all costs” and this has now cost us all.

For too long the focus was on “how much can we get” and not on “How can we serve”.

Too often the attitude is “What can I get away with” rather than “Doing the right thing”.

Business “leaders” (I use this term with much reservation, as you are not much of a leader if you lead your followers into crisis) became complacent and acted as if there was an inexhaustible supply of money. Investment became more important than Integrity.

Now we are reaping the whirlwind that was initiated by unsustainable greed.

What is amazing, however, is that those businesses that provide an essential service are in fact flourishing in the very same economic climate where others are going down.

The problem is that too many business are built on supplying non-essential products and services. Services that are nice to have but not necessary, great for status but irrelevant to survival.

Ah! I hear you say. I knew it. It’s those bosses that are to blame. Whoa! Before you point fingers at any one else, please make sure that your conscience is clear.

Let’s look at your level of service.

What is the nature of your job? Is it an essential service? Does it really need to be done? What would happen if it was not done? Just remember that if your job is easy to do and can be done by many people you should not expect a great reward for doing it.

Are you providing your service in an essential way?

How well do you do your job? Do you do the best you can or do you do just enough to stay out of trouble? What would happen if everyone in the business provided the same level of service that you do?

How much have you learned about your job? What have you done to improve your knowledge and service? What have you done to ensure your value remains high in the market place?

You see, employees have also become complacent and greedy. Doing less and expecting more. Fighting to get paid more but doing nothing about improving productivity. Seeing what they can get away with, or out of, rather than finding out what needs to be done and doing it and taking pride in a job well done.

All too many employees believe that they are entitled to a job and to be paid a “living wage”. They have acted as if there was an inexhaustible supply of jobs and as if employers had an inexhaustible supply of money to pay wages.

On this journey to the new you, I want you to realise that you are not entitled to anything that you have not earned. No-one else is responsible for you. The world is merely an inexhaustible supply of opportunities (the only inexhaustible supply that there is). It is up to you to prepare yourself to make use of those opportunities. It is your responsibility to your future to ensure that you make an effort to improve your value to the market. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are offering an essential service and that, no matter what your job is, you do it in an essential way.

With love and best wishes

Johan

PS:

I would really like to have your comments on this article so send them to me at johan@motivate.co.za

I would also like to hear from you regarding the biggest problem that you face at work or at home. This will help me to know how to structure future articles. Write to me at johan@motivate.co.za

Next week I am going to talk about "Character Goals" as the only way to sustainable growth.