Comments on: Be Committed to What You Do

By: Tamsen

Tamsen — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:24:25 +0000

Dear Mr Barnes,

It was with interest that I read your article on job commitment. Please allow me to mention another aspect of this subject.

In the last ten years I have seen another trend, this time among employers. The trend is one of employment policies that lean toward abuse of employee’s goodhearted efforts and self investment. As interviewees we do our best to guage how our investment will be treated, but are caught by surprise once we get into the job. No-one wants to be treated slavishly, tricked, taken advantage of, etc. I give 100% to my work, but I expect the same quality of relationship in return. Most importantly, I must be able to negotiate fairly through conflicts and disagreement if I am to remain functional in my position. It is for the lack of forthrightness in my employers that I now have that horrible stigma of being a “frequent flyer” among jobs.

I would enjoy any thoughts you might have regarding this.

Thank you,

Tamsen

By: Joie Mojica

Joie Mojica — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:25:45 +0000

Commitment is something a company earns from it’s employees. Though it is still true that some employees are sometimes too insensitive and oversees the potential growth their company is offering them. But still commitment for me is earned, just like respect. Why would an employee be commited to a company that forsakes her/his contributions in the company.It is a give and take process, commit to your employees and they will do the same for you.

By: arif

arif — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:44:46 +0000

I cannot but agree with the author. so, thoughtfull of him…

By: rosy

rosy — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:33:05 +0000

I agree this article…In this world difficult to achieve high position .so everyone should aim and commit all decision and get high position..because there is must of all life..”commitment is important”….

By: john

john — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:18:45 +0000

I agree this article..commitment is important of all life…so everyone should aim and what i do next one..to think and commit that…and clear for all work’s in the end of the day.

By: lisa

lisa — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:06:08 +0000

From this article…I really like..commitment is important of everyones life…u know most popular person they have some commitment…and should handled frequently…everyone can set tat all commitment’s in our mind…it’s easily they can achieve..all field

By: Vivek Thomas

Vivek Thomas — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:45:05 +0000

oooooo…….
nice article , like above commitment is the most important quality that a person should have, it can be for anything like job, love affirs,etc. If up lack the quality of commitment its like drinking water without opening the mouth……

By: Elizabeth Upchurch

Elizabeth Upchurch — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:01:44 +0000

Interesting take on commitment and I agree that changing jobs for trivial reasons doesn’t pay. I do take issue with the example of the woman that had to work 2 jobs to make ends meet and took a job that paid slightly more with the company she had been moonlighting with. I didn’t see in your story your commitment to her. You weren’t committed enough to her to know that she was working 2 jobs to make ends meet or to find out what it took to get her commitment. Did you find out if you contributed to her situation? Did you really expect that she would be committed to your company over her family’s well being? Commitment is a 2-way street and one that companies are going to find out about quickly as the job market loosens. The cost to a company of not being committed to it’s people is huge.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:00:08 +0000

I would agree with the philsophy and behavior associated with commitment as defined here, but not with tying it to a particular timeframe. Granted there is a certain incubation period to grow your effectiveness and credibility in an organization, it’s the dedication and effort that speaks for itself regardless of whether you are in a position or company for 1 year or 10+ years. In fact sometimes those that are in a job for an extended period of time tend to rest on the laurels of past merits or form an unjustified sense of entitlement. In a competitive landscape you need to constantly reinvent yourself and while you should indeed look to do this inside the same organization to which you are already committed to, many times it is more productive to seek outside alternatives (for non-trivial reasons, as mentioned in the article). It’s a balance between knowing when to press on and knowing when you’re really in the slow lane, and mapping that onto your own clear sense of career goals.

By: Gaurav

Gaurav — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:03:41 +0000

There are scores of people who keep changing their jobs frequently. There are many apparent reasons for doing this but generally the basic reason is lack of commitment. Not only in jobs but in most aspects of life, commitment is a long term investment. But today’s mindset lacks such perspective. Lure of quick and short term gains is all too powerful causing the phenomenon of job hopping.