"We should all aspire to work as hard as we can" - really?

[emkana]

A woman said this on Jeremy Vine today and it made me think, it seemed to find agreement with both Jeremy Vine and the other woman who was on at the time - would you agree with that statement? Why?

"Doing the minimum because you can, is soul destroying." Yes but sadly some jobs are soul destroying. The point is that you need the money.

Ideally we would all do the best we can in worthwhile satisfying jobs, but that's not the reality for many people.

"Doing the minimum because you can, is soul destroying."

Not always.

Well it's a good job nurses, doctors, airline pilots, soldiers etc don't feel that way or we'd be royally fucked.

My cleaning lady has been today - not what most of you think of as 'worthwhile' but she has pride in her job and works as hard as she can while she's here. I think more of her for that and pay her well ver the odds.

ROLF at cleaning lady anecdote

Doing the minimum because you can is sensible in my book.

I just reiterate, try not to get found out.

Looking busy brings a job satisfaction all of its own.

"Well it's a good job nurses, doctors, airline pilots, soldiers etc don't feel that way or we'd be royally fucked.

My cleaning lady has been today - not what most of you think of as 'worthwhile' but she has pride in her job and works as hard as she can while she's here. I think more of her for that and pay her well ver the odds."

Do you know how sanctimonious you sound?

Libra, if either of us could be bothered, I'm sure we could form some sort of alliance

Yes we should meet to discuss having a meeting about it at some point in the next few weeks.

I'll pencil it in.

What does "working hard" mean? Doing every aspect of your job extremely well? Lots of parts of people's jobs aren't that important.

Lichick - what kind of books do you write? If a novelsit, do you "work hard" on the descriptions of scenery etc? Because there's no need; everyone skips over those bits.

Litchick: Well, presumably you pay your cleaner a fair rate (sounds like you do) and she has autonomy and independence, which means that her particular cleaning job is a decent one and she gives it her best shot. Cleaning is not in itself a bad job, but working for a contract cleaning company often means being ripped off and treated like shit, which tends to make employees feel resentful and disinclined to do more than the minimum. I think it's important to remember, with all paid work, that the employer has a duty to the employee not to take the piss, as well (ie pay a fair wage, on time, don't treat staff as though they are interchangeable and disposable) - by all means fire staff who are consistently lazy and incompetent but it's a two-way bargain.

I like to think I work hard, yet I kind of resent people who value working hard above all else. I can't work out why.

I think I recognise that for me, working hard is one of those 'virtue is its own reward' kind of things. I have a good job, earn decent money, it kind of pays back.

If it floats your boat, fine. If not, so what? You are making your own judgement on what is important to you.

I hate that whole sanctimonious "Everyone must work harder, must cope with everything, must achieve lots" kind of thing. It just smacks of a capitalist boss somewhere in an office, watching his minions work in the factory below.

Why? Isn't striving for perfection a bit of a drag?

Everything Cloudspotter said.

I agree with doing a good job with pride on something your committed to doing, but I draw the line on slogging your guts out at your own personal detriment. I think some companies, and even the NHS, can take the piss out of their staff, overburdening them, and then putting it on their plate, saying they should 'work harder' when theres only so many hours in the day.

My view has changed since ive had DD. I have a good job and i love it, but have sensed the piss taking of management over the years. The harder our team works, the more they pile on, passing it by as 'adding value' to our service, with lots of threats about funding etc etc. The irony is, before DD i worked as hard as i possibly could, with all the stress that comes with it, and never felt appreciated. Since DD ive gone back 2 days a week, turn up, do my work, then home, and my manager sings my praises. Very very strange.