Cover your ass work attitude- a liability for companies and sign of regressive culture

"Cover your ass" is more pervasive in private corporations than you think.
Not limited to high profile politicians, bank loan approving officers, reporters and public service personnel, managers and bureaucrats are guilty of this safe approach to work.

You won't get into trouble, won't get fired, neither would you produce remarkably good service and results.

Just to cite a recent personal encounter with chronic bottlenecks, unbalanced delivery and interim shortages which could be easily addressed through better coordination and information dissemination.So just that you know not to expect too much. Suggestions and feedback fall on deaf ears, and are discarded, disregarded, or scoffed at most of the time. They are frowned upon instead of being utilised as inputs for improvements.

As long as the person(s) responsible have done the minimum to cover himself / herself / themselves, they would be safe. One only needs some documentary proof in writing or time log to show that they had taken certain preventive and informative steps or disclosures. No worries if they failed to achieve the targeted numbers, destinations, audience, beneficiaries.

Count your lucky stars and blessings if you have colleagues and service providers who are cooperative and willing to listen and share with each other. Some not so fortunate ones have to put up with feet dragging, concealment, defensiveness, buck passing and blaming others for their problems.

Ultimately, the company's interests are at stake. The clientele, productivity and reputation will suffer; so will the bottomline and profitability. It will go back to the management and employees collectively for the lackadaisical and irresponsible work ethics of a few.

As mentioned time and again in earlier notes on this blog, it does not pay to be whistleblowers, initiators and revolutionaries. Most of us in society are too comfortable in our respective walled zones to care or want to lift a finger to do great things for others.

Where and since when have the battler spirit gone?

No longer do we take pride in our work from end-to-end. Our responsibilities may not be clearly defined by the job description but by the results of our work.

A highly litigatious society may have fostered such safety first attitudes.
Somewhere, something has gone very wrong. We are supposed to have progressed. Blame the environment and everyone if you like and think it would make you feel better.

When more of us learn to take some risks, stick our necks out, and be courageous to take responsibility for our ideas and actions, go an extra mile to deliver our best, then would Australian workplace culture shine brightly.

- c.g.