Smart Work or Hard Work:

Which is better for career

Success?
Group Members:
Shoaib Shafique
Muhammad Awais
Chaudhary Usman
Umair Mehmood Dar
Sheema Gul

Problem Statement

Hard Work- More Physical, Stressful

Smart Work- Intellectual, Optimum
utilization of resources
Is it Smart Work or Hard Work that
aids employees in having a
successful career?

Research Objectives

To provide insight about career

success.
To provide direction for career
oriented employees.
To provide employers that whether
smart work or hard work is better to
best fit in job.

Transcribed Interview

Participant Views
Defining Hard work and Smart Work
Difference between Hard work and Smart

work
Which is better? Smart work or Hard Work?

Which is better Smart Work or Hard

Work?

Participant 1
Changing and evolving working trends
Accepting change
A big part of accepting this change is

changing the way employees view the work

they do and the way they do it.
Smart work can reduce the work load by
adopting a few planned strategies.

Which is better Smart Work or Hard

Work?

Participant 2
A combination of both smart and hard work

is necessary
Hard work is the base of any kind of smart

work.

Which is better Smart Work or Hard

Work?

Participant 3
Technological revolution and advancement

leads the current society

Technology typically revolves around smart
work
Understanding the context or platform of
the work
A person needs to have a strong vision and
a plan to do smart work.

Which is better Smart Work or Hard

Work?

Participant 4
The platform plays a huge part in adopting

hard work or smart work

A collaborative strategy
Smart and hard work being done together

Which is better Smart Work or Hard

Work?

Participant 5
For a person who has a degree and

understands the concepts of smart and hard

work, He will always adopt smart work

Difference Between Smart Work

and Hard Work

Participant 1
Smart work requires a person using their

intellectual capabilities
Hard work is said to be the work done not

knowing or utilizing the available resources

in a planned manner resulting in
consumption of more time.

Difference Between Smart Work

and Hard Work

Participant 2
Simply a matter of preference, proper

judgment and definition

If you work smart then hard work turns into

smart
Smart work is about using all your resources

in such way that even the hardest work

seems easy.

Difference Between Smart Work

and Hard Work

Participant 3
Hard work is when we keep repeating the

same old things in order to get better

results while smart work is being able to
discover the mistakes in the work we do and
correcting them to produce better results.

Difference Between Smart Work

and Hard Work

Participant 4
Hard work is about working long and hard

hours, being focused on the task at hand

and delivering the best that we can
Smart work is about creativity and

innovation.
It is having the ability to think outside the

box

Difference Between Smart Work

and Hard Work

Participant 5
Know what you are doing. We all get paid

for results, not the number of hours we put

in.

Coding

Participant 1:
Accepting change is one of the biggest attributes
any employee should have and a big part of accepting
this change is changing the way employees view the
work they do and the way they do it.(Willingness to
change/ Adoptability)
Smart work requires a person using their intellectual
capabilities to perform their work in a better and more
efficient manner (Thinker)
Hard work is said to be the work done not knowing or
utilizing the available resources in a planned manner
resulting in consumption of more time.(A follower)

Coding

Participant 2
For a person to have a successful career, a
combination of both smart and hard work is
necessary; one cannot get ahead in their career
by adopting one or the other (Collaboration)
Hard work is the base of any kind of smart
work. (Support)
The difference between hard work and smart
work is simply a matter of preference, proper
judgment and definition.( Personal
Perception)

Coding

Participant 3
Understanding the context or platform of
which the employee is working on is also
important for successful career
(Dependence on working environment)
A person needs to have a strong vision and a
plan to do smart work. (Strategist/thinker)
Smart work is being able to discover the
mistakes in the work we do and correcting
them to produce better results. (Rational
Capability)

Coding

Participant 4
The platform, on which an employee is
working, plays a huge part in adopting hard
work or smart work. (Context)
A collaborative strategy that a person should
have that requires both smart and hard work
being done together.(Association)
Smart work is having the ability to think
outside the box in order to deliver better result
than we intended to.
(Innovative/Imaginative)

Coding

Participant 5
Know what you are doing. We all
get paid for results, not the number
of hours we put in. (thoughtfulness)

Constructing Themes

Willingness to Change
Adoptability

Innovative/Imaginative Thinker
Thoughtfulness

Collaboration
Support
Context

Personal Perception

Accepting the changing

working environment
Smart work: Intellectual
and planned

A mutual relationship between Smart

work and Hard work

Maping Propositions

Career
Success

Adoptability To
Change

Personal
Perception

Relation between
Hard work and Smart
Work

Developing Hypothesis

Career Success is influenced by the

employees adoptability to change
which directly affects the way they
perform their work.

The personal perception of

employees regarding the work they
do and how they do it also affects
their career success.