People often think ethics is strictly about rules. Some would add values to the equation, but are apt to think that the relevant values are ones that tell us what not to do. This is a mistake. Ethics is also about the values that bind us together, and the values that enable the work that organizations do. The story below is about the distinctive set of values that seem to dominate German workplaces. Somewhat odd, to outsiders at least, is the fact that Germans embrace a set of workplace values that seem to emphasize leisure—and yet German workers are among the most productive in the world.
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LINK: What the German language reveals about attitudes to work (by Joseph Pearson for The BBC)
You could be forgiven for thinking that Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is all about work. They have some of the highest levels of productivity in the world, with unemployment rates at a record low of just 4.1%.
This year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that Germany’s “employment growth is strong… growth is above potential, and the fiscal position keeps strengthening”.[And yet]….
“There is a strong feeling, for example, that whenever you feel sick, you should stay at home,” he says. “It’s your right. There would never be a critique of this. When you are sick, you are sick. ‘Wenn man krank ist ist man krank.’”
It is an attitude that workers in other cultures now may find alien. In many workplaces in the US, the UK and elsewhere in Europe, taking days off sick has become frowned upon to the point where many employees will attempt to struggle through their illness in the office. Meanwhile, the Germans take twice as many as many sick days per year as UK workers. .
What do you think?
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My experience working in Germany was in advertising. Generally thought to be a creative industry. Yet, productivity and efficiency are core values – a process is followed correctly, with no errors, oversights or delays. Therefore, when one is sick, one is less productive and potentially disruptive. So staying home is less a rite and more a productive benefit. With respect to holidays, taking 1 week holidays is not considered productive. 2 weeks was the minimum. The rationale I was given when I asked for 1 week, common in North American is: “The company pays for holiday time so the employee will be refreshed and energized upon their return to work. 1 week does not sufficiently re-energize thus it is unproductive.” Leisure and the separation of work and play is important, because efficient play leads to maximum productivity.