At the recent UK Lawncare Network conference an address was given by Professor John Moverley, Independent Chairman of the Amenity Forum.

He told the assembled delegates, "For too long the excellent work in our sector maintaining amenity surfaces has been under recognised. What is done every day keeps Britain moving, through weed control of our road and rail networks, our sports surfaces, our gardens and lawns and more.

"In many ways, Britain sets the standard and it is important that we shout about this a little more."

His message of taking pride in one's work, of course applies across all turf professional sectors, not just the amenity market. Work undertaken by readers of this Weekly Briefing contributes to the quality of life, as well as to the and heath and wellbeing, of communities all across the UK - not to mention the vital role played in professional sports.

So this concept of taking pride in one's work should be one which the turf professional fully embraces.

What does it mean though to take pride in your work? Maison Piedfort of project management company, Workzone, describes the concept as "a subtle mixture of humility and self-confidence: a delicate balance that says, 'I must prove myself again and again through my work, - yet at the same time, says, 'I’m confident that I can prove myself again and again with my work.'"

It's the idea of wanting to do a great job, even when no-one's looking. Of course the fruits of a turf professional's labour by their nature will always be on public display in one form or another - but the motivation for doing great work comes not from thinking how your boss or the public will judge you, more from the standards to which you hold yourself.

Inevitably though there will be times where we all feel a little beleaguered and undervalued in our roles - which can have an adverse effect on the pride we feel in our work.

Employment company Wisestep offer some tips for those who may be struggling currently to feel a real sense pride in their work. These include:

Build a good reputation:
Try to build a good reputation by having a constant record of stellar performance. Try to always produce the best results as much as possible.

Always try to improve:
As a working individual, always try to know about things that you don’t know of. Then, try to learn from that and slowly improve by yourself. Someone who constantly improves is more likely to take claim of their own work.

Know what you know:
Try to improve the quality of the knowledge that you already have. This can either be in the form of experience or acquired knowledge.

Gaining trust:
Try to build and develop a sense of trust among your colleagues and fellow peers. Gaining a considerate amount of trust means that you will feel more confident about your work and will feel more determined to get the work done so as not to disappoint others.

Feeling self-respect in your job:
Consider your skills, knowledge, and power and try to think whether you have applied these factors to your work properly. Try to think whether you have met the expectations and the needs of your employer. If not, then you have a self-defeating attitude.

Make good use of your time:
As an employee you have the responsibility to do well in that specific job. This is necessary because you are responsible for your own actions. So you owe yourself to become more productive and be an asset to your employer.

How you apply yourself at work:
When you are someone who takes pride in your work, regardless of the job, you find the job to be really important and give the most priority to the task that you are working on. Thus, this will also affect the results that you produce.

Turf Professionals have so much to be proud of. The work performed year round, often in challenging conditions, means so much to so many different groups of people. Experts will tell you, if one particular task is getting you down effecting your overall feelings of pride, it's worth stopping for a moment to consider the importance of the task to the greater whole. 

It's a valuable exercise to appreciate just how vital a role you are performing.