01 Jul 2014

Botswana is said to be a nation characterised by poor work ethics when compared to other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.

Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNPC) official, Mr Letlhogile Lucas said a study conducted by Gender of Respondent has revealed that work ethic in Botswana was a problem.  

Addressing a Gaborone council meeting recently, Mr Lucas said the poor work ethic stood at 20 per cent. Common traits of a good work ethic include reliability, discipline, fairness, accountability, honesty, responsibility and time consciousness amongst others, he said.

Mr Lucas appealed to councillors to engage in debates of high standard and to demonstrate a good work attitude in order to be exemplary to their people.

He said the study also revealed that women were better in work ethics than their male counterparts, adding that it was clear why people prefer to employ foreigners than locals.

Mr Lucas said the country has many educated peope, but wondered why the country was experiencing poor work ethics. He added that the study also revealed that employing people aged 60 years and above was advisable as they have better work ethics.

In order to address the challenge, the official said BNPC was implementing a national work ethic and mindset change programme in line with the national priorities of 2013-14.  

Commenting, Councillor Chanungwa Mphusu of Gaborone North commended the report, adding that it might be true that females were more productive than their counterpart as most take care of their families.

Councillor Veronica Lesole of Tsogang ward suggested that the BNPC should organise a separate work ethics workshop for councillors because politicians were not time conscious.

Councillor Seabelo Thekiso of Village ward also said there was a need for BNPC to conduct a public speaking workshop for politicians and across all sectors.

For his part, nominated Councillor Rupert Hambira questioned the credibility of the study because it does not qualify the research, noting that the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) has more males than females. ENDS