In my last post titled “What Employers want in 2016” I introduced the concept of Contribution-Ethic and had a very positive response.  I defined contribution-ethic as “feeling a strong moral and professional obligation to continually add value.” To further explain I’ll compare to its closely related first cousin, work-ethic, which I looked up in a number of sources.

Here are two definitions; the principal that hard work is intrinsically virtuous and worthy of reward / an ethical principal that places the greatest value on hard work and diligence. Although both principals are tied closely together, I believe the difference is the implied focus each of these terms initially brings to mind. To me, the definition of work-ethic emphasizes inputs (hard work, diligence) and the definition of contribution-ethic emphasizes outputs (add value, results).

Dan Schwarbel, a best-selling author, speaker and managing partner of a Gen Y research and consulting firm stated … “we (millennials) believe that companies shouldn’t judge performance by tenure, age or number of hours worked but on results achieved”. Given Schwarbel’s research shows that millennials will represent 76% of the global workforce by 2025, employers will have to further develop their ability to attract, develop, challenge, promote, recognize, measure and retain employees who exhibit both tangible and intangible value add to the organization.

In 2016, Davies Park executive search will continue to add value for our clients through sourcing and identifying top leadership candidates that demonstrate a strong individual and collective contribution-ethic.