Adaptability and Work Ethics: Keys to Organizational Success

welcome back you are listening to lectures on soft skills by binod mishra in the previous we talked about meeting management and in this lecture we are going to talk about adaptability and work ethics you might be thinking what actually is adaptability and what our work

ethics now these are two terms and once you are in an organization or in an institute you might come across certain situations where you feel you need to apply these most of you are either willing to join an organization or you are in an organization now all of you

agree that organizations keep on changing their practices from time to time think of a person who is working in an organization for say fifteen years and suddenly he finds that the work culture of the organization has changed

for example the recent move by many organizations to become paperless may actually give a jolt to those people who have been using papers since all these years either in passing instructions or in writing applications and you find that the present policy of the organization is

to be paperless and become electronic so this may create a sort of resistance among many people especially those who are not much accessible to electronic medium of communication now if you are in an organization you are supposed to adapt yourself to the changing needs we

have talked about meeting management so a meeting will be called to inform all the oh all the employees of the organization and tell them that from now on all of us will be paperless so every instruction will come electronically in many organizations

the earlier practice was to provide you your pay slips in hard copies now they are giving your pay slips in electronic copies you have also started [fi/filing] filing your tax returns online now what are these these are actually the changes in the organizational structure

so every organization in course of time evolves changes and as employees we actually need to welcome those changes as employees we need to adapt ourselves to those changes because change is the law of nature and so it is of organizations also now what actually do we

mean by adapt by adapt tability we mean a sort of change we actually mean the ability ability to adapt is a big adaptability i mean you have to change yourself according to the new policies according to the new new practices so uh this adaptability can be defined as

the ability of an entity or organization or cooperation or institute to change itself or its responses to the new circumstances or new situations or new environment adaptability shows the ability to learn now those people who are

actually rigid you you you might have ah read earlier when we are discussing communication break down or barriers that these people they actually do not realise that they have to change and since they do not welcome this change they actually do something which results

as a sort of barrier so in order to survive in an organization and be with the organization we have to adapt ourselves to the changing needs and by adapting we actually can learn a lot now today what has happened you find in the olden days

when computers were just rare and people who are having computers they could be taught of people hang a sort of luxurious thing now today we find even every shop every office is computer savvy even the people at the lowest rang people are the low levels they are also

computer savvy so what what has resulted because they have adapted themselves to the changing situations they have learnt so the advantage of adaptability is to learn from this new experience and to improve because if you adapted yourself to the changing needs and the changing

circumstances you are also going to help the organization not only you are going to enrich yourself but you are also going to improve the fitness of the organization you are actually raising not only your fitness but also the fitness of the organization

there are certain things that are required in order to adapt now first is ah how can we adapt ourselves too there are certain skills that you need and then first is the physical i mean unless and until people are sound because you know there is an old time saying a sound

mind reliefs in a sound body so if you are having a soundness of body you will have a soundness of mind you will not resist the change you will believe that this is there so you need to be mentally aware you need be ah you need to prepared yourself for the

change so not only is this ah physical i mean physical fitness is required for mental fitness and then psychologically also you have to prepared yourself to the changing requirements and the changing needs and moreover the world over you know if you if you do not adapt yourself

to what will happen you actually belong to one culture no doubt but todays workplaces are multicultural and of course organizations also look at this from that multicultural point of view so you need to change according to the changing

ways and changing means now if you have the ability to change how will you add to the organization you will actually add to the quality and you will facilitate accomplishment you know in organizations its so happens that there if there are some rigid people these

rigid people are often side line because you know your leader your head knows that you cannot contribute anything so what happens after certain point of time you actually become or you start feeling yourself isolated hence you have to be prepared to adapt yourself

and if you are in an organization because new things are coming your way you have to follow the flow we we have talked about ah the communication flow in the organization so if you are to communicate effectively in order to make your organization more effective

and more successful you also have to follow the flow of the organization and not run against the organization because you have to be in the organization now you will find that every organization has its own culture every organiz[ation]-

and and then ah the way things take place in an organization they are also different in every aspect you will find how letters are handle how problems are solved how complaints are responded to so there is a practice in an organization whatever organization you

belong to you will find that every organization provides you ah with a certain code of conduct also that is why when a new person joins ah an organization he is provided a sort of writing which actually ah is a code of conduct which actually not only talk about the rules and

regulations of the organization so as an employee of the organization you are supposed to understand what are your roles what are your responsibilities and what if the time so needs or so requires how you can change so organizations can make changes from time

to time so you have be ready for such changes remember you belong to an organization no doubt but you also represent in organization when you go out isnt it when you go out you actually work as an ambassador of your organization so individuals though an individual is one

person but then he represents an [oh/organization] organization somebody who is the head of an organization he actually works as ah an ambassador of the organization hence it is very important that whatever you do the way you behave the way you react the way you correspond all these

in a way reflect the culture of the organization but if you are in an organization again the other part of this topic is work ethics now this word ethics this comes from philosophy no doubt but then as an individual employee should you follow some sort of ethics now

what is ethics if we have a discussion about ethics you know we you have often heard people saying this is not ethical this is ethical fine sometimes you say you need to maintain a sort of ethical standard what do you exactly mean by that we actually mean ah a sort of

righteousness it is actually ethics that tells you and that informs you within your actions are right or wrong now let us see ah what wikipedia says about work ethics now work ethics is a set of values now how important are values organization also has got a value

organization also has got a code of conduct but has a personal level you also have a sort of conduct there are conduct rules no doubt but even as an individual you also have some ethics you are getting ah a very handsome salary and you are not going to your office

regularly so it may be considered if you think it from that point of view it may be considered or you may yourself realise that this is quite unethical fine now this question of ethics is actually the question of being right and wrong so work ethic is a set of values which

are based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence you are appointed or you are taken in an organization but before you are taken the people who are interviewing you they in a way also try to find out how far ethical you are and they put and they try

to test that through certain questions they are physiologically based now here let me ask you ah let me provide you a certain situation imagine one of your friends ah joins say an organization where he has to provide some pieces of information

to people say he is ah an officer who has been provided who has been assigned the task of providing information but then he also has secret information about the organization and you are a friend to him should your friend tell you the secret information about employment

about certain things so then if he does so you also will feel that he is not maintaining the ethical norms that is why in every organization you find there are some people who are assigned the task where he only has the access he only has the password he only has the keys if working

in an organization which are some way or the other related to finance banking whatsoever but in a way he is not entitled to leak these pieces of information now it is a question of ethics it is also a belief in moral benefit of work and its

ability to enhance character a work ethic may also include as to how a person can be reliable this is reliability factor now uh you know a lot of things about the organization but then as an [aut/authentic] authentic employee of the organization you are supposed not to

reveal these pieces of information of course as as an as an individual working in an organization you also have certain initiatives but then in certain [ca/cases] cases certain situations and also you are to maintain social skills sometimes you may come across certain situations

where your loyalty is criss cross but then loyalty to your organization is more important than loyalty to your friends loyalty to your relatives and hence it comes under your personal ethics now when we talk about ethics of course the

question of relationships that also comes into picture now you will find that every organization is actually a blend of employee and employer and these employees and employer they actually have a sort of relationship this relationship which is ah of course a

sort of business relationship but then that is not only based on a sort of mutual trust but then it is also based on certain legalities because when you talk about ethics sometimes people actually cross the limit of ethics and then of course law comes into question

so there is a sort of relationship between employees and employer both employers and employees they are actually bound by not only by a sort of official relationship but by a sort of legal relationship which all has got certain moral hazards

now the question is as an employee what are actually as an employee what actually are our legal liabilities or what are our expectations the first is commitment how committed you are this is this is a question of your ethics how committed you are you you know as human

beings all of us have problems but then it is your commitment which actually provides you a sort of authenticity to your organization a sort of reliability to the organization so how committed you are so your first aim should be your commitment now every organization

your employer and you as an employee there is actually a sort of dependency between the two sometimes you find ah there are certain ah files are not approved because the person handling that or person in charge of that is either out of station or ah have some other

problems now the question is it is the level of trust that is given or that is assigned to an individual now it is the question of dependency and if you are once in an organization you belong to this organization and this belonging there

are several factors associated with your belonging what are those factors you are in an organization the organization not only provides you ah a handsome package or a pay but then you are also given certain other rights isnt it but when we talk about rights with rights also

come duties if somebody becomes too much aware of his rights alone and ah pays less attentions to his duties then perhaps there will be mismatch so you are allowed certain rights and in those rights those rights actually give you a short of actualisation for example i belong to this

organization this organization has not only provided me a sort of proper existence ah but it has also provided me certain facilities say ah i i i have been provided with a very good accommodation i have been provided with the with the very

good environment i have been provided with a very good ambiance i have been provided with all source of facilities ah that are entitled to a person of my rank or my status or whatsoever now this is how we should think so this will actually make you have a sort

of self actualization and that will install in you a sort of not only a sort of dependency but a sort of inspiration and that will ah result in your initiative being more your ah productivity [leav/level] level ah being more so this provides you a sort of confidence

and that is how you start working now is it only the employees who are given who ha who are ah bound by certain legal obligations when you when you get a job ah the organization provides you a sort of ah appointment letter which has got certain conditions mentioned

over fine the conditions sometimes you are you are provided a time frame ah sometimes they give you a probation period all these are actually to judge you ah and your capability as a prospective employee in this organization but at the same

time when the rules are there you also are bound by certain obligations imagine a person gets a job in a particular organization ah at a particular pay but only after say two months he gets another job which has ah more pay more perks now what should he do should

he leave the first organisation but then there is actually a sort of contract there is actually a sort of commitment since you haves ah you have taken an appointment with an organization which has given you a time period and they also mention certain rules and regulations

but then only for some more perk if you are going to leave one organization once again it is a sort of ethical consideration it is up to you naturally a person will be more aware of ethics will not leave the job which he got first and where he is undergoing a

training or whatsoever but then there are moral hazards which are also with employers what are they the employer even though the relationship between the employer and the employee is formal which at times becomes informal yet he had some authority over him

and true that authority he has got the power to monitor and control his employee so this monitoring is on from time to time ah without the knowledge of the other person and the control ultimately is with your boss or with your controlling officer now once you actually

come up to the satisfaction level of your employer then the employer is tries to invest in you invest in you even though at times it so happens ah that the employer may not be quite sure whether this investment will be rewarding

for the organization or not once again here it is the question of ethical consideration on the part of the employee but remember as employers one should never consider employees only as means but also as yens now what do you mean that you should never treat your

employee only as a tool here again the question of humanity which has been talked by which has been ah promulgated by one major philosopher immanuel kant comes in to question now let us see what kant says life is the faculty of spontaneous activity spontaneous i mean

natural you know all of us we have got certain rights all of us have to be happy and this happiness factor as ah kant says the awareness of all our human powers every individual is aware that he has in him some potential and because of that potential he

can get something it is actually a sort of ah cause and effect relation you work and that is why ah you you you get something to eat occupation gives us this awareness once you are in a job so your job gives you this awareness without occupation men cannot leave

happily you know it is it is only ah a person who is you know ah unemployed will have different sorts of thoughts a person who does not work will invite troubles not only for himself but for society that is why kant says if he earns his bred he eats it with greater pleasure

then if it is doled out to him i mean a person who is totally aware does not want to get food without any work man feels contented after heavy work then when he has done no work so the satisfaction level you get once you work you you you feel

satisfied because your work brings you something in return for by work he had set his powers in motion now again immanuel kant says ah that that is why every employee he should not be considered only as means but also as yens employees are the great resources and

out of these resources you actually have to think about the welfare also of the organization that is why you will find when we talk about the rights duties and when this happiness factor comes in to question you will find that as employee you have certain rights and

your organization allows you these rights sometimes when these rights are violated then comes the question of a conflict and then comes the question of a sort of difference now what are these rights right to freedom suppose you are in an organization and you

are working for so long and then the time comes then when you are to be escalated to the new rank promoted to the new rank so at that time you feel ah that your qualification should only be the criterion of your promotion not other things now sometimes it so happens

that this discrimination factor comes in to being and that actually leads to a sort of dissatisfaction this discrimination ah in in in a while while you know where we talked about the right to freedom this discrimination factor comes there are many people who are

not provided equal opportunity ah sometimes this discrimination is based on gender sometimes this discrimination ah in in many countries you will find sometimes this has resulted on the base of colours sometimes on the base of faiths and all so this should not be there

otherwise it will lead to a sort of dissatisfaction and the organization will come to a halt and the question of ethics will again come into consideration ah at times ah this discrimination is also done on the basis of ah age ah disability you often here ah that ah ah it was it was

perhaps in the news ah that one person who was disabled ah was not given ah the proper job despite the fact that he was equally qualified now the question is ah these discriminations actually result in greater dissatisfaction levels and that actually results in poor production

that actually ah gives a bad name to the organization again all the organizations see to it that every employee has got a right to privacy what is this right to privacy as an employee expectations are there that you should ensure your potential to be utilized

but then there are times then there are certain questions where the organization cannot come in and between you for example somebody are taking drugs ah somebody has certain issues of health but of course there are certain professions ah where the organization has

the right to test your health for example if ah a pilot is ah ah drunk naturally it will lead to a great accident a major accident and it may cause so many ah peoples lives so in that way of course the organization has the right to test your ah drug addiction

or whatsoever apart from this ah the organization does not try to interfere with it moreover the organization ensures that there has to be a work and life balance that is why many organizations they see to it ah that women members ah are not given duties at odd hours

this is actually the organizational concern which is related to safety and other issues moreover suppose ah you have some personal information you have some personal data you have some ah data which you want to preserve the organization in no way tries to interfere

with it unless and until it is so much required and it becomes so essential so you have a right of course but suppose you start doing something which is unacceptable naturally you can be questioned now right to due process what is this right to due process every individual

every employee in the organization has got or is entitled for promotions so when the time comes and the yard sticks or the criteria for promotions have to be the same now it so happens that had times when ah there are ah say certain deviations ah of course ah

the ah ethical standard or the ethical practices of the organization ah that comes in to question moreover but then the emp ah organization sees to it that every employee is to be measured is to be evaluated equally on the basis of the qualification and on the basis of the

requirement for that post in certain organizations you will find suppose an organization runs into difficulties or problems where ah they have to sat down now there is a question of sacking some people now here also organizations differ some organizations see to it that they

provide you with sufficient time to look for new opportunities and till that new opportunity they not only provide you a layoff period but they also see to it that compensation package is also better but remember as an employee suppose ah you ah are a very trust

with the person of your boss and you have been given a task of evaluating a particular unit which is running in loss now here comes the question of the conflict between your personal ethics and the ethics of the organization so when you have done all your practices and

you have also decided a sort of measure or recommendation it is later that you realise that it will affect the life of so many people and so many people will become redundant but then from the organizations point of view you have to do that task now here there is

a class of your personal ethics and organizational code now what you will do will totally depend will you be able to convince your organisation that ah these employees should be provided with a good ah package or compensation or ah a sort of adequate ah say layoff period

and whatsoever now that totally depends and that brings an organization into repute or disrepute but then majority of organizations see to it that they do not give a message to the outside world that they do not bother about their employees

then comes the right to participation and association every employee has got the right to mix with people at the organization ah in in different capabilities in different capacities ah they they also can associate ah themselves with various functions but then

they are also expected and the organization also sees to it that their participation is also ensured in certain decisions of the organization say for example if a particular unit has to be closed ah a leader who is democrat or a boss who is democrat will call a meeting and

will discuss and then finally before he comes to a conclusion or decision he will think about the possible images maybe something new comes out may be some people give the suggestion of starting something new and not by out in order that these people do not become

meaningless or redundant so all these are ah in the purview of the organizational ethics as well as your ethics so long as you are in an organization you should ensure that you are committed you are loyal now a day again there is right health

and safe working conditions nowadays you will find every organ[ization]- ah there is there is a word which is very popular nowadays well being of the of employees well being and for that well being there are different measures ah the recent movies ah yoga classes or swimming

entertainment and so all these actually and and of course suppose you are working in a mines ah you are working ah in a factory where ah you need enough safety measures so there are certain ah say ah rigid rules that you have to ah wear helmets you have to wear badges

or whatsoever these are actually because ah of course it is your personal choice but from the organizations point of view they actually provide you these basic rights again it comes to fair wages so far for ah the same ah work you are entitled

to get ah the same payment you are ah supposed to receive the same salary ah for the same job if you are appointed at the same time this is also up to the consideration of the organization but again if there is a sort of discrimination you have every right ah

ah to ah express your own opinion then the right of freedom of consigns and speech of course this is at times this becomes very debatable as every employee has got the right to work but at the same time every employee has also got the freedom to speak bet then

when you are speaking when you are expressing or airing your views you should ensure ah that this is not nt organizational fine the question is ah there are certain measures which always may not be ah that advantageous to your which may not suit to you

but that doesnt mean ah the organizations suits change only for an individual so you are given that right to participate the right to speak but when you are in an organization it again becomes a part of your personal ethics to maintain a sort of equilibrium between

what you speak ah here and what you speak outside because as i have been saying ah that you are bound by certain moral considerations and by personal ethics now the question is if as employees we are to follow ethics what are the or where are these areas where you

need to be very careful what are these plagiarism suppose you have been assign the task of writing report or ah you have been ask to develop something new at times what happens maybe that is ah because ah that is my mistake so you put the

words of somebody unknowingly but again it may be a question of plagiarism especially in academic institutions when you are producing or reproducing somebody elses work in the same way it may lead to a sort of plagiarism because every idea that you have is your copyright

so is it of others you are not supposed to plagiarise or steal again there are certain other things that also ah employees at times tend to forget for example ah misusing the office resources suppose as ah using misusing ah office properties because as an employee

it is actually your ah right and as well as your duty to preserve the wealth of the organization something being misutilized as officer you are supposed to report it say in in in many organizations pilfering you know ah stealing things you know ah slowly steadily

so that has become a practice so it is actually a damage to the organisation that we are working in so there are certain ah restrictions but then every now and then nobody is going to take care of or watch you find so it is a question of personal ethics that will not

be misusing the ah ah organizational property ah you will not be a um ah making a disadvantage of the official phone or something else moreover selected misquoting is also a problem somebody didnt say ah but then you are misreporting it just in order to get ah some eg access

to a person or to get ah ah something more in return so that is again a question of misquoting so once who try to referring from doing all these things sometimes in order to get a claim people try to take credit for the work that others have done this is also a crime and

it is once again a choice and it is a sort of ethical choice you become very unethical sometimes you are misrepresenting data that is again ah unquestionably unethical fine so you you need not involve yourself in all these activities sometimes you are trying

to create bigger pictures i mean making long predictions distorting visuals you know trying to a proclaim a lot whereas it is not so all these are certain issues which even though you have a right but then you are misusing your right because an organization has full

trust in you and you are misusing your ah trust you are of course aware of your rights but then you should also know your duties your duties comprise being loyal to the institution being a cultural ambassador to the organization and not saying or criticizing your organization

publically not criticizing your colleagues ah publically so there you know it all comes into the purview of your own moral considerations there are certain ways through which you can become ethical you see my dear friends we have to create a sort of between personal

ethics and organizational ethics in order to be successful so so first thing that we should do is to follow the organizational code of conduct of course there are written codes but there are some unwritten codes also and these unwritten codes come under your

personal purview under your personal choice be loyal to your organization saw your commitment level by becoming honest by becoming transparent by becoming sincere by becoming a hard worker by becoming an ambassador of the organization and whatever work you have been allotted to

as many of you you will be allotted to different tasks love your work love your task dont criticise your organization whatever you are you are because of the organization organization has actually provided you a platform and that

is how your life ah has become so authentic be proud of your organization and speak well of your organization one should always try to maintain integrity in terms of companys secret information as i said in the beginning there are many people who are assigned the

task of maintaining records maintaining very secret records of the organization it is once again not only the organizational ethic but your personal ethics also to create a sort of balance nowadays as i have said earlier organizationals are multicultural platforms

hence the way you behave and the way you show your attitude and interest at the workplace that speaks a lot so you have to create ah you have to create a sort of blending between all sorts of faiths religions all sorts of beliefs in order to

be an effective employee and once you start thinking in that direction in the days to come you will be a better employee and your organization will be proud of you be aware of your rights but before that also be aware of your [di/duties] duties let there be a

proper balance between our rights and between our duties let us see that we are for the organization and if organization expects something of us we should respond to that in a very positive manner by becoming adaptable by becoming a person who is concuss of his personal ethics

because ethics is a very personal thing and as individuals in the present a world and as key players in organizations let us try to maintain a proper ethical standard so that people may remember us when we leave an organization thank you very much