Faithfully .........

An employment agreement states that it is expected on the part of the employee to work honestly and faithfully during the employment period. What does this word ‘faithfully’ actually mean in terms of expectations?

By definition, faith means belief, trust, and credence.

In our epic Mahabharata, great Pitamaha Bhishma, took the oath to serve anyone who would sit on the throne of his father Santanu, the King of Kuru who ruled Hastinapur and for that matter took vow for lifelong celibacy to see that he remains ‘faithful’ to Hastinapur kingdom.

In the context of employment, I do not think that any employer expects anyone to remain faithful and serve lifelong in the organization. In simple terms ‘faithfully’ may be interpreted as to conduct with trust during the employment period.

In my view, the term ‘faithfully’ has some deeper meaning.  It is not the same as trust or obedience or loyalty. ‘Faith’ is ‘Belief’. 

Any employee is expected to have belief in the organization values, culture and vision. One needs to understand and align to the big picture that the organization is striving to achieve, committing 100% effort. As anything in life, there is good time and bad time for any organization. And no matter what, the employee is expected to have an attitude of ‘We Can’ and have a ‘belief’ in self as well as the organization ethos. As the quote from Frank Chapman Sharp says, “If we can once believe that success is possible, success becomes possible.”