One of the issues that many companies are facing these days is a lack of dedication. It seems as if people are willing to jump from one job to another, and they often do so on a whim.
Of course, it isn’t only the employees that are showing a lack of dedication but in many cases, those companies are not providing what employees need for the long term as well. Although that is true, it wasn’t always the case.
"Back in 1938, kids were expected to work to help support the family. As the oldest son of five, my mother took me to find a job at the age of 14."
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) May 1, 2022
I’d like to introduce you to a man named Walter Orthman. Walter managed to make it into the Guinness World Records in 2019 because he was a long-term employee at a company. In fact, at that time, he had already worked for the company for 80 years (it’s now up to 84 and still going).
Born on April 19, 1922, in a small Brazilian town, Orthman would eventually go to work when he was relatively young. He was 15 years old when he started working with a local company as a shipping assistant.
That was in January 1938, and it was not unusual for children to work to support the family at that time. In an Inside Edition segment, Orthman said: “As the oldest son of five, my mother took me to find a job at the age of 14.” He was hired because he knew German well and he ended up being a good worker.
At first, he worked as a shipping assistant but it wasn’t long before he was promoted. He began working in sales and excelled at that position as well.
He said: “I traveled to São Paulo and in less than one week I filled the production with orders equivalent of three month[s] of work.” It wasn’t long before he was traveling across the country and by the time the 1950s came around, he had already established relationships with many clients and would even befriend them.
The reward for good work is often more work, so eventually, he became a sales manager. That is a position that he still enjoys today. It isn’t just a namesake for the company, he is still actively coordinating representatives and doing a good job, just as he has done throughout his 84-year career.
In order to be such a prolific and dedicated employee, he had to have a good routine. He exercises in the morning before commuting and he makes sure that he sticks to his routine, as he claims it is one of the most important parts of keeping his job.
He said: “It gives you a sense of purpose, commitment, and a routine. When we do what we like, we don’t see the time go by.”
Now that he has celebrated his 100th birthday, you might think that he is ready to slow down but in fact, they say that he isn’t missing a beat. He considers the record that he set to be one of his proudest achievements but he never did it to break a record.
He said: “I don’t do much planning, nor care much about tomorrow. All I care about is that tomorrow will be another day in which I will wake up, get up, exercise and go to work; you need to get busy with the present, not the past or the future. Here and now is what counts. So, let’s go to work!”
Check out the video below: