Why we need to apply our BA in Employability we received at “Mothers University” (MU)
In one of my earlier articles in 2016 I had noted that degrees or qualifications can land us our first job, or ‘a’ job, but competencies make us stay. Most businesses appraise us on capabilities that are ‘softer’ rather than ‘harder’, for example, how well do we communicate? How well do we listen? How “open” are we? How “social”? Can we work well with others? Do we have good manners? Do we appreciate others? Can we inspire others? Are we polite? I can go on and on with questions like these. I actually used to joke in class stating that I never took a course in customer service as my mother taught me to be polite, helpful and appreciate people. It’s simply common sense – which seems to be uncommon these days.
If you already related these questions & points to the title of this short article, a striking, yet common sense discovery emerges: That what we actually need to succeed in the world can partly be taught by our mothers (note: no offence to fathers around the world, it’s a joint effort – I am actually one of the them – but mothers usually spend more time with children in most families).
We therefore need to go back and remind ourselves what our mothers taught us, refresh our knowledge on these softer areas and we may actually make our world a better place and perform better in the workplace.
I came up with a mother’s curriculum which is taught from the day we are born which provides us with the ‘employability’ skills we actually need (and eventually spend so much money on through corporate budgets). If we could only make this a degree…!
Bachelor of Arts in “Employability” offered by Mother’s University (MU)
The degree is also taught in a personalized way, 1:1 approach offered in a personalized campus (sounds innovative? It’s been around for ages!)
E101: Manners & good behavior (Companies call this “Customer experience”)
E102: Be honest – say the truth (Companies call this “transparency”)
E103: Don’t hurt people, be mean, get into conflict, or be arrogant (Companies call this being ethical)
E104: Be responsible for your actions (Companies call this Accountability)
E105: Treat everyone the same (Companies call this fairness)
E106: Listen, Learn & then decide (Companies call this critical evaluation)
E107: Share (Companies call this Knowledge Transfer)
E108: Work hard to succeed and you will be rewarded (Companies call this fiduciary duty & performance related pay)
E109: Study hard (Companies call this professional competency)
E110: Create a good name for yourself (Companies call this reputation)
E111: Be yourself, try to be the best and create (Companies call this creating the benchmark and innovating)
Of course we can go on and on and on with more classic courses and add the “stream” in terms of technical capabilities.
Basically, if we apply the above – given that almost everyone has graduated from Mother’s University – I am sure the world would be a better place. Ok, maybe some of us failed and that’s a fact. But most graduated. So there’s a problem: Organizations develop a code of ethics, deliver trainings, produce manuals etc. and despite going through Mother’s University and all these corporate trainings, it seems that we still can’t get it right. Let’s face it; arrogance is evident, fairness does not exist, politics are everywhere as selfishness, cliques are formed etc.
Some advice to those who act in an unethical way: Are you teaching your children to act the same way you have? Remember it is a small world and what goes around comes around. Ask your mother. She definitely knows. She taught you years ago during one of your classes on Mother’s campus…
Bite Size Thoughts by Dr. Constantine 'Dino' Kiritsis