Unproductive

Mag ginoberno gud na trinabahuan. There is this misconception among people that if one is working in a government agency, you have the right to loaf around and receive the salary with lesser displacement of work consistent to what is being paid. We hear of local government workers who perform procrastination at its peak. We also hear of teachers coming in late to their stations and go out of school as early as three thirty in the afternoon. But the most annoying ones are those who come to work early but do not displace any output at all. They are just there with no tangible outcome of either services or paperwork.

Loafing according the Dictionary.com is to idle away time or to lounge or saunter idly and lazily. It then prompted the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to remind state workers to strictly observe government working hours. The CSC issued the reminder through Memorandum Circular No. 1, series of 2017 reiterating the policy on government office hours, and penalties for unauthorized absences, tardiness in reporting for duty, and loafing during office hours.

What then is the reason why people get unproductive during working hours other than sheer laziness?

Worker productivity is an ongoing challenge in the world. It would be easy to blame this lack of productivity on ‘lazy’ millennial. But there are more complex factors at play including issues with workplace culture, a lack of investment in skills and training, and change on use and expectations of digital communications tools.

Barry Chignell (2019) mentioned that these are the main reasons why people are NOT working at their best: The working environment is not fitting for the purpose; Digital technology is out of control; Managers are unskilled; Performance management is not in step with reality; No rewards and recognition scheme; Stressful assignments with additional loads and less social interactions.

Let us look at the schools since this writer is immersed with them as the ecology.

If one visits the public schools, the reality will slap the person with enough force that could knock him/her unconscious.  Classrooms are jam-packed with learners and the furniture and even the floors are not wholesome enough to look at. Teachers and students are trying cope with the online fad and cannot manage themselves on how to situate themselves in this social media revolution. School heads are not focusing on the curriculum since they are misguided by all the paperwork and “beautification” activities. The introduction of the PPST/PPSSH-aligned performance is beyond the understanding of other school heads (they do not even understand why lesson plans must be tracked and classroom observations must be properly written). Teachers claim to have enough teaching loads and competencies to be taught are stressful enough to cope.

These are just slices of the big pie that encompass the realities in the Department of Education. But then, as persons of cognitive understanding, we can adapt and cope on the so-called demands if we understand what we are working at.

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who lived around 500 BC, developed an entire philosophy around the fact that life is nothing but constant change. Having to adapt to those changes is a basic element of being human, but it is not always easy to excel at it. Adaptability requires an ability to positively alter your mindset and your actions, often in ways that are initially uncomfortable or even stressful, to conquer new challenges (David, 2019).

There is the gap. When people sit on their laurels and do not go out of their comfort zones and then resort to sloth.

A person is being lazy if he is able to carry out some activity that he ought to carry out, but is disinclined to do so because of the effort involved. Instead, he carries out the activity perfunctorily; or engages in some other, less strenuous or less boring activity; or remains idle. In short, he is being lazy if his motivation to spare himself effort trumps his motivation to do the right or expected thing.

Recent research suggests that, though our instinct is for idleness, people will pick upon the flimsiest excuse to keep busy. Moreover, people feel happier for being busy, even if their busyness is imposed upon them. In their paper, Idleness Aversion and the Need for Justifiable Busyness (2010), Hsee and colleagues surmise that many purported goals that people pursue may be little more than justifications for keeping busy.

Government workers must be reminded that we took oath on serving the people and the country to our utmost abilities. Since we chose to become teachers and employees of the public schools, there is a need for us to be productive daily. Our performance and academic achievement of the students are manifestations that we are doing our best to displace services.

Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission warned the government workers that loafing during regular office hours is a grave offense and is punishable by suspension of six months to one year for the first offense, and dismissal from the service for the second offense (CSC Memo Circular no.1, s. 2017).