Three Global Truths Every HRD Professional

Needs to Know about Work Ethic

2014 HR Forum | Seoul

Roger B. Hill, PhD University of Georgia

Athens, GA USA

We have not been here before

• After other recessions people went back to work; recovery included jobs

Why is unemployment so persistent?

• Another case of the business cycle in action

– Nothing new or mysterious

– Just give it a little more time

• Decline in ability to innovate

– Reached a technological plateau

– Global competition

• End of work

– Machines increasingly performing work once done by people

– Exponential advances

Computers can’t do that

• Levy and Murnane (2004) identified things a computer would not be able to do

– Driving a car

– Complex communication

• October 2010 Google announced autonomous cars

• January 2011 GeoFluent provided instant translation for business chat messages

• February 2011 Watson beat two human champions at Jeopardy!

What to do with uncertainty all around

• Difficult to predict what future work will be like

– 1/3 of the jobs that will be there do not exist today

– ICT gains capacity faster than humans can prepare for work

• What we do know

– Race WITH machines; not against machines

– Humans + computer > human or computer

Three global truths ...

Career Navigation

INNOVATION

Work Ethic

Technical Skills Certification Licensing Occupational Expertise

Dependability Initiative Interpersonal skills w/

emphasis on communication skills

Career awareness (K-5) Career exploration (6-12) Career planning (8-12) Career engagement (12+)

Innovation

Technology, creativity, and problem-solving Higher-order thinking Integrated academic and vocational education Entrepreneurship

Foundation for 21st Century Work Preparation

Rojewski & Hill, 2012

Why?

Career Navigation

INNOVATION

Work Ethic

Technical Skills Certification Licensing Occupational Expertise

Dependability Initiative Interpersonal skills w/

emphasis on communication skills

Career awareness (K-5) Career exploration (6-12) Career planning (8-12) Career engagement (12+)

Innovation

Technology, creativity, and problem-solving Higher-order thinking Integrated academic and vocational education Entrepreneurship

Foundation for 21st Century Work Preparation

Rojewski & Hill, 2012

Why?

IEX example

• Headed by Brad Katsuyama

• Discovered how High Frequency Trading was taking advantage of stock market

• Found technological solution to remove unfair advantage

• Founded an equity trading company to provide a fair market

• Success is built on ethics

What?

• How to define work ethic

– Make up your own definition

– Ask a group

– Read it in a book

– Look it up on the web

• Research is best approach

– Especially important when dealing with values and ethics

– “Whose ethics are you going to teach?”

Key constructs from research

• Interpersonal Skills: personal characteristics that

facilitate good working relationships with other people, cooperation on the job, effective communication

• Initiative: characteristics that facilitate “moving up the

ladder”, not being satisfied with status quo, sticking with a job situation not going well

• Being Dependable: characteristics related to fulfilling

agreement to perform certain functions at work, meeting minimum expectations for satisfactory job performance

How to teach work ethic

• Resources developed at the University of Georgia in the U.S.

• The Work Ethic Site http://workethic.coe.uga.edu/

• Website near top of list for “work ethic” on most search engines

• Includes online lesson materials

• Provides information about 10-hour unit of instruction

Work ethic unit

• Originally developed for use in US high schools

• Designed for 10 hours of instruction

• 4 case studies with group discussion

• Focus is on challenging students to think

• Guided discussion rather than lecture

Use of the materials

• Website has been online for 20 years

• As of August 20, 2014

– ESA administered 51,136 times

– OWEI administered 222,063 times

• 10-hour unit of curriculum materials distributed to over 1,700 people

Evaluation of the unit

• Survey of recipients from 01MAR2010 to 27MAR2012 (02APR2012 survey sent)

• 185 participants in study

• 48 respondents

• 26% response rate

• Several additional responses to say they had not used the materials enough to respond

Where used

middle school 0.0%

high school 33.3%

two-year college 8.3%

four-year college 6.3%

company or workplace 14.6%

job training program 22.9%

other 14.6%

How many persons taught?

• Total of 2,565 persons taught by the 48 respondents

• Mean of 53.44 per respondent

Portions used

part of the materials just as they were provided. 12.5%

all of the materials just as they were provided. 12.5%

all of the unit materials along with additional materials. 6.3%

a portion of the unit materials along with additional

materials. 62.5%

the unit materials for review but did not teach with

them. 6.3%

Usefulness

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Usefulness of unit:

strongly disagree

disagree

agree

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Effectiveness

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Additional research

• Focusing on international context

– Korea

– China

– Greece

• Cross-cultural comparisons

• Additional instructional materials

Kim research from 2008

Label 성실성

(conscientiousness) 유능함

(efficiency) 유쾌함

(pleasantness) 겸손함

(modesty) 헌신

(devotion)

Item 규정을 준수하는 (following

regulations) 정직한 (honest) 양심적인 (conscientious) 주의 깊은 (careful) 정확한 (accurate) 믿을 만한 (reliable) 지시를 따르는 (following

directions) 정중한 (courteous) 인내심 있는 (patient) 신뢰할 만한 (dependable) 시간을 지키는 (punctual) 열심히 일하는 (hard working) 정돈된 (orderly) 끈기 있는 (persevering) 충직한 (loyal) 일관성 있는 (persistent) 정서적으로 안정된 (emotionally

stable) 잘 교육받은 (well groomed)

효과적인 (effective) 효율적인 (efficient) 안목 있는 (appreciative) 주도적인 (initiating) 생산적인 (productive) 도움이 되는 (helpful) 수완이 있는 (resourceful) 야망있는 (ambitious) 호감이 가는 (likeable) 독립적인 (independent) 적응할 수 있는 (adaptable) 지각있는 (perceptive) 고집센 (stubborn)

쾌활한 (cheerful)

즐거운 (pleasant)

열정적인 (enthusiastic)

협조적인 (cooperative)

겸손한 (modest) 친절한 (friendly) 이해심 있는

(considerate)

헌신적인 (devoted)

헌납적인 (dedicated)

(Kim, S.J.,2008; Identifying work ethic constructs using a Korean translation of the OWEI)

Kim used Korean language OWEI

• Occupational Work Ethic Inventory translated into Korean

• Factor analysis on data collected from 816 full-time and part-time workers in Korea

• Five constructs identified

–성실성 (conscientiousness)

–유능함 (efficiency)

–유쾌함 (pleasantness)

–겸손함 (modesty)

–헌신 (devotion)

Conclusions

• Every HR professional should know why, what, and how to teach about work ethic

• Initial research on work ethic shows similar characteristics in South Korea

• All preparation for 21st century work should include work ethic, innovation, and career navigation

Contact information

Roger Hill rbhill@uga.edu