The President’s plea to workers

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 labour costs.

We take a week off for every funeral. And then we wonder why we are not competitive.

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 labour costs. We take a week off for every funeral. And then we wonder why we are not competitive.

The service that we provide in our hospitality industry does not match that of our competitors and many of us have sadly come around to accept poor service as the norm. There is a particularly pernicious attitude to property that we find at work. There is the petty stealing of paper, envelopes, tea, milk and other equipment. There is the reckless use of office vehicles. Employees show no inclination to protecting the things that are in the offices and factories, and extreme reluctance to stand up for what we know to be right in our workplaces in general.

If we are going to make the changes we all want, then we have to start with a change in attitude to work. Government is ready to do its part, and I am counting on you, Secretary General, to lead the campaign for a change in attitude to work and increase in productivity.

These were the lamentations of the President of the republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, when he addressed workers at a state ceremony to mark this year’s May Day celebration in Accra, yesterday.

We, here at the Daily Statesman, cannot but share in the sentiments of the President.

There is no denying the fact that generally the attitude of Ghanaian workers towards work cannot match global standards and it is particularly worse in the public sector, where those who run the machinery of government find themselves.

Indeed, in this era of globalisation, there is no way we can be productively competitive if our attitude towards work, as vividly depicted by the President, remains unchanged for the best. This is mainly because there is a direct correlation between productivity and remuneration.

In consequence, bad worker attitude invariably results in poor productivity, which also has a negative impact on the country’s economy. As a result, our quest to develop into a first world economy will remain a mirage.

It is in this regard that we at the Daily Statesman associate with President Akufo-Addo in his call on Ghanaian workers to change their attitude towards work in order to enhance the productive competitiveness of our national economy.

We are delighted and encouraged to note that President Akufo-Addo, in his usual exemplary leadership role, also made known, as part of his appeal for change in worker attitude, the readiness of government to kick-start the worker attitudinal change. Certainly, this shows that the issue is very dear to his heart.

The President has a life-enhancing vision for the country and believes that his good intentions can only be better achieved with the Ghanaian worker who has a positive attitude towards work, hence his serious attachment to a better worker attitude.

We also urge the President to send signals in the public sector that the rod will not be spared if workers are adamant to his all-important appeal for a changed and serious attitude towards work.