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There are certain subjects that are harder to write
about than others. It is surprisingly easy to pick
at the Ethiopian government for example, there is
just so much to choose from. But subjects of
sociology are not nearly as easy to summarise. For
some time, I have wanted to write about the
nationwide Ethiopian problem with entitlement. Of
course, it really is not an easy subject. And so I
will try to do my best not to insult anybody.
Consider that Ethiopians, as a whole, give more
importance to their entitlement than to their
merit. If one has a job, they are entitled to their
salary. Unfortunately, many appear to believe that
they are not responsible for the results of their
work. Without yet trying to search for the causes of
this behaviour, I am baffled by what
'accomplishment' actually means to most Ethiopians.
I have been on this search for two years and still
have no answers.
The beggars sitting outside the church feel entitled
to receive alms, because they are poor. They have
not actually done anything to deserve charity; there
is no effort linked to their reward. Much the same
can be said about large numbers of Ethiopian
employees, concerning their salaries. Too often,
what matters to the employee is that they have
turned up for work, instead of what they have
achieved while they were there.
An employer hires staff to take on certain tasks,
not to give them a salary. If those tasks are either
not well done or not done at all, the employer has
every right to question whether the staff should
even be paid. Employees in Ethiopia, on the other
hand, often believe that as long as they have tried,
they have done their part.
With only 900 words on this page, I cannot spend
time listing examples of things Ethiopian employees
have done to drive their employers crazy. What I can
say is that every manager or employer that I have
spoken to has the same problem as I do: staff that
makes excuses instead of providing the expected
results.
Consider this theory, that Ethiopians are generally
motivated by process and not by results. Charged
with accomplishing a task, an employee is just as
likely to come back with an excuse as with the news
that they are finished. The result is that managers
spend all their time focusing on making sure their
staffs have completed their tasks successfully.
There is no time for their own equally important
responsibilities.
Going further in the view that process outweighs
results to average Ethiopians, consider the quality
of Ethiopian production or manual labour. Go into
any new building and tell me if the doors all close
well, that no air gets through the windows, that the
floors and ceilings are straight, that the drains
all work or that the paint does not spill over where
it should not. Go to a mechanic and see if they pay
any attention to detail. Workers appear not to take
pride in their work.
This may sound like a rant, but it is not meant to
be.
It is a question of work culture; one that is so
weak that it becomes too great a task even to guess
how it can be made to change. Ethiopians do not know
how to work. It is such a pervasive culture, that
even employers must mostly accept it. The new house
owner will accept that the paint job is badly done
for example. By the time it is a question of
painting, any building owner is happy just to see
the project finished. Quality is given up for lost.
If an employer must always be following everything
that their employee is doing, to avoid mistakes or
ensure that things even get done, then we should
wonder if the employee in question even wanted their
job in the first place.
Did they want the job, or just the salary?
Whether one wants a job or needs a job is an
important distinction. The first has its roots in
desire, the other on obligation. If one wants a job,
it is a sign of ambition and of greater goals. If
one needs a job, it is a sign of lacking ambition
and of past failures. Though luck and fate have some
role to play in success, these are small compared to
ambition and dedication to hard work.
Hope for change is small among the managers I know.
Some talk of generational change offering a small
ray of light, believing that the next generation of
Ethiopians will be more driven by professional
ambitions. But mostly, they blame the past. The Derg
and communism are favourite targets. Until things
actually do change though, managers will continue to
suffer from their positions of responsibility,
overseeing people that take none for themselves.
Is Ethiopia a minimalist culture, where the least
effort is always the best effort?
Do not hate me for asking, just answer this for
yourselves.
For my part, looking back, I have trouble finding
many examples of people doing more than what I asked
of them. One of the biggest barriers to Ethiopia's
development, and even to foreign investment is
precisely the work culture I describe. When someone
is paid to do something, it matters that they
succeed, not that they have tried. For the privilege
of trying, they can volunteer.
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