By R. Esi Asante(PhD)
The work culture and ethic in Ghana have come under strong criticism and attack in recent years. Despite boasting of a rich cultural heritage and hardworking people, complaints of negative work attitude seem to contaminate the good values and behaviours associated with the workforce in Ghana generally.
I have heard some entrepreneurs and business owners complain bitterly about the work attitude of Ghanaians and how it was better to work with foreigners because they were more loyal, truthful, diligent and hardworking compared to their Ghanaian counterparts.
Some of the negative testimonies about some Ghanaian workers are that they are lazy, thieves, undermine the business and run it down, demand more than they put into the work and are never there when needed most. The negative attitudes are associated with workers in the public, private and artisanal sectors.
Ghana can boast of a skilled craftsmanship, resilient hard working artisans who are in high demand and community based. Artisans in the vocational and technical sectors including carpenters, masonry, tailoring, auto mechanics, wielders and electrical workers, form the backbone of the economy, playing vital roles in national development.
However, inconsistent work ethics such as inability to meet deadlines and client specifications, lack of structure, and limited modernization, threaten the growth of the sector.
The main challenges with these group have been identified as poor work ethics and attitude, lack of certification, standardization and professionalism, they have inadequate soft skills, poor record keeping, limited access to tools, capital and workspace, and often resistance to new technology and training, hence trials and errors, leading to grave consequences.
For those in the formal sectors, the challenges require a cultural shift and systemic reforms to improve time consciousness, ethical standards and improve productivity and efficiency.
The most concerns raised are on the issues of punctuality and attendance, reluctance to embrace change and innovation, lack of personal development and ethical considerations (De-Graft Egyir, n/d).
The Former President, Nana Akufo Addo, while addressing his first May Day celebration as President, just four months after taking office, described Ghanaian workers as clock watchers.
The observations he made corroborate the complains by some business owners who have expressed frustration about the kind of work attitude that persist in the country.
“We all avoid very carefully any mention of the workplace attitudes that retard our progress. I have said it at another forum, but I think it bears repeating: we arrive at work late and then spend the first hour in prayer; we are clock watchers and leave in the middle of critical work, because it is the official closing time.
Everything comes to a stop when it rains, and we seem to expect the rest of the world also to stop. We have no respect for the hours set aside for work (…) we pray, we eat, we visit during working hours.
We spend hours chatting on the telephone when customers are waiting to be served, thereby increasing our labor costs. We take a week off for every funeral. And then we wonder why we are not competitive” (Akufo-Addo, 2017).
The current President, John Mahama, recently stressed the need to improve the human resources of the country, expressing worry at the current quality.
As we celebrate May Day, International Workers’ Day, these reflections by the President, the former President and several other criticisms, informs this article which examines work ethics, work attitudes and how these can be improved individually and organizationally.
Meaning of Work
Work means many things to different people. What you consider to be work may not be work for another person and so it has been defined in different ways from everyday meaning.
Scientific definition of work in physics for instance, connects the relationship between energy and how it is transferred. Therefore, work, measures energy transfer that occurs when an object is moved over a distance by an external force at least part of which is applied in the direction of the displacement.
If the force is constant, work may be computed by multiplying the length of the path by the component of the force acting along the path. Thus for work to be done, a force must be exerted in a direction that displaces the force.
(Encylopaedia Britaninica, 2025). From the definition which can be mathematically equated, factors such as force, displacement and the angle or direction of the displacement, affects work.
Work therefore is something that is done. Winsor (2023) observed that during the industrial age work became a place to go; an environment where people came together to get things done for a company and in the current dispensation, companies had all the power and created Human Resource departments that attract and retain talent. Notwithstanding, the act of working has become too disconnected from work that needs to get done.
Factors that affect work:
One factor that affect work which is force, can be related to motivation. In organizational behavior, we observe that the relationship between the organisation and its members is influenced by what motivates them to work and the rewards and fulfilment they derive from it. The questions asked are why do people do what they do and why do people behave in certain ways?
Generally, motivation is described as the direction and persistence of action and it concerns why people choose a particular course of action in preference to others (Krech et al., 1962).
A researcher, Mitchell once identifies four common characteristics that underlie the definition of motivation: i.e. motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon, it is intentional, multifaceted and it is to predict behaviour. She defined motivation as ‘the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviours’ (Mitchell, 1982).
The Chartered Management Institute contend that motivation is the creation of incentives and working environments that enable people to perform to the best of their ability.
The aim of motivation is to engage people with the work they are doing in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for individuals and the organisation as a whole. (Chartered Management Institute, 2012)
The underlying concept of motivation therefore is the driving force within individuals by which they attempt to achieve some goal in order to fulfil some need or expectation.
So individuals have needs and expectations, which result in the driving force known as the behavior or action taken, to achieve their desired goals which them provides them with fulfilment of their needs or expectation.
These personal needs and expectations which influence behavior and work performance have been classified into economic rewards, intrinsic satisfaction and social relationships. Many theories have been formulated based on the dimensions of the individual needs and wants.
Early writers, such as F. W. Taylor, believed in economic needs motivation and argued that workers would be motivated by obtaining the highest possible wages through working in the most efficient and productive way.
Where the work offers little pleasure and little opportunity for career advancement, personal challenge or growth, many people may appear to be motivated primarily, if not exclusively, by money.
Motivation may not be the same for all people. In organisational context, it describes the psychological processes “that underlie the direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior or thought.” (Pulakos et al., 2012).
“Direction pertains to what an individual is attending to at a given time, intensity represents the amount of effort being invested in the activity, and persistence represents for how long that activity is the focus of one’s attention.” Groscurth, 2015).
Considering the different generations in the workforce, there is the possibility that there are contrasting sets of motivations. While some, like the Baby-boomers may be concerned about job security, paying their mortgages or funding their retirement, Generation X may be concerned about the changing nature of the work organization due to technology, their financial future and continuing job security for the rest of their working life.
On the other hand, Generation Y may be more unattached, have less interest in or doubts about affording to buy their own home and be less concerned about security or a long-term career. For generation Z, they are more concerned about flexibility of work, preferring more remote work and greater autonomy.
Researchers contend that for many people, money may serve as the motivator to work depending on personal circumstances and the satisfaction derived from work. For some people, recognition and being valued becomes important than money in motivating them to stay in a particular job.
Job satisfaction is another factor to consider when we consider work. It is a complex and multifaceted and can mean different things to different people. It is known in literature to affect strength of work motivation; however other studies shown that it is not always the case. Satisfaction is not the same as motivation.
It is more of an attitude, an internal state that could, be associated with a personal feeling of achievement. Some people may be satisfied with certain aspects of their work and dissatisfied with other aspects. Therefore, the level of job satisfaction is affected by a wide range of variables relating to individual, social, cultural, organisational and environmental factors.
Individual factors include personality, education and qualifications, intelligence and abilities, age, marital status, orientation to work. Social factors include relationships with co-workers, group working and norms, opportunities for interaction, informal organisation. Cultural factors include ethnicity, underlying attitudes, beliefs and values.
Organisational factors include nature and size, formal structure, HR policies and procedures, nature of the work, technology and work organisation, styles of leadership, management systems, working conditions while environmental factors include economic, social, technical and governmental influences.
Sociocultural values are also known to influence work attitudes. Opoku Mensah (2019) studied moral values, religious values, communal values, attitude toward others, and family values within the Ghanaian society and how they influence job satisfaction.
The results show that there exists a significant positive relationship between sociocultural values and job satisfaction. The strongest relationship observed was between moral values, religious values, and job satisfaction.
Social support mediated the sociocultural values and job satisfaction relationships. Thus, sociocultural values maintained in any society continue to remain strong among workers in spite of all its conflicting values with organizational culture (Opoku Mensah, 2019)
Work Ethic and Culture
Work ethic involves a set of principles and beliefs influencing professional behavior and decisions, impacting productivity, job satisfaction, and a company’s reputation.
Its key elements include integrity, responsibility, quality, discipline, and teamwork, reliability, professionalism, positive attitude, and the ability to take initiatives and several others.
These values shape a successful work environment and constitute components for a strong work ethic. Research shows that individuals with strong work ethics tend to be more productive and achieve higher quality results.
Strong communal values, respect for authority workforce resilience and growing professionalism are some of the strengths we have as a country. The vast informal sector suggests a strong entrepreneurial spirit showing self-motivation and resilience.
Due to the hospitable nature of the Ghanaian, customer relations and client management are commendable while adaptability and formality are some of the strengths we possess.
However, inconsistent ethical standards, poor time management (punctuality and productivity issues), unprofessional and poor customer service culture, limited training and capacity building, nepotism and favouritism and inadequate corporate governance with weak governance in SMEs, plague the work ethics and culture.
Literature abounds with recommendations on how to improve work ethics and culture in the business sector. The need for written codes of ethics suitable for the business or sector is encouraged to resolve the issue of accountability and ethics.
Ethics workshops should be run for workers, while fair and consistent disciplinary measures can be instituted to create awareness. This is to develop and enforce business ethics policies with reporting systems for unethical behavior.
For poor time management and addressing productivity issues, organizations can build time conscious culture by enforcing punctuality policies and reward on-time performers, introduce time-tracking tools or ensure that the hours of work needed to be completed in a working day are completed before individuals close from work.
This should include implementing penalties for habitual lateness. Additionally, monthly training programmes. Management must also demonstrate punctuality. For remote work, policies should be developed to ensure productivity and efficiency.
Organisations should prioritize investment in staff development and customer service training. Front line staff should be trained on soft skills, while client feedback systems should be instituted to track service quality, with clear performance reviews.
It is important to implement mentorship and coaching programmes and to organize short courses and workshops to reskill and upskill workers. Improvement in corporate governance systems and structures require that Government and NGO’s should be able to support organisations with capacity building for small business owners who form the majority of businesses employing the masses and offer incentives for adhering to the structures such as business registration, tax breaks and easy access to funds.
Individually, workers can develop strong work ethics by remaining disciplined, foster positivity by encouraging open communication and regular feedback, keep learning and seeking mentorship, being punctual, leading by example especially for leaders, setting clear goals and aim at achieving them in a SMART way.
We can in our own ways change the narrative about the work attitude and ethic in Ghana. The benefits are enormous.
