Articles - General HR

You're Not the Boss of Me.

Discretionary effort is the extra mile an employee is willing to take in order to satisfy their customers, coworkers, and contract. Employees get hired because of their skills and talents. It is their discretionary effort that becomes the measure of their value to the organization.

Success as a leader can be measured by their ability to improve the discretionary effort of employees and help those translate to excellence for the employee, the organization, and ultimately the bottom line. Sadly, there are hindrances to this happening. Both microaggressions and microinequities challenge the ability of employees to transcend from just doing what they are being asked for and using their full potential.

Microinequity is the way an individual in the dominant group belittles a person or places a label on them based on inherent characteristics such as race and gender. Microaggression is the use of brief, hostile and common stereotypes aimed at a certain race or culture. Both concepts are counterproductive and can affect employees negatively. A victim of microinequity and microaggression may feel inferior and develop a low self-esteem, thus decreasing their willingness or even their capacity to work at high levels of performance.

There is a direct and measurable way to analyze the impact of microinequities and it is by looking at the level of discretionary effort measured against the individual's or group's potential. We know that when people are in love, they are motivated to find creative ways to solve problems. People who share an emotional connection can live halfway around the world and they find ways to communicate the care they have for one another. People who find themselves in these relationships are creative, they have long suffering, a high level of commitment, and they count the cost consistently.

There are five things to look for when measuring personal discretionary effort:

1.   Creativity
      a.   Imagination, new solutions, no is not an option

2.   Long suffering
      .     The ability to stick with a project even with challenges, walls, and barriers

3.   Commitment
      .     What benefits you, benefits me

4.   Energized
      .     Does this fuel my fire?

5.   Cost
      .     Is the opportunity cost worth it?

When people feel devalued, they may detach themselves from the group or its goals. They are afraid of confrontation and making a statement. They are also afraid to draw attention to themselves if they perform more than they are asked to, thus they tend to do just enough to get by. Their everyday work routine becomes a drag and they find little or no motivation to come to work.

A decrease in performance becomes evident as well as attendance issues. They do not view their goals as being connected with the organization's vision and their coworker's work outcomes. They disassociate themselves from the organization's success and are actively seeking for ways to get their needs met which may mean they could be looking for another place to work.

In this light, eliminating microinequity and microaggression to improve discretionary effort should be a priority for every organization. Doing so is key in ensuring that employees are connected to the organization's mission and are willing to perform at the best of their abilities to attain their goals. Below are ways of improving employees discretionary effort:

• Practice micro affirmation. Micro affirmation is the act of acknowledging small acts that show dedication and going above and beyond. This increases self-esteem and makes employees feel that their efforts do not go unnoticed.
  
  
• Promote diversity in the workplace. Allow individuals to practice their culture and encourage everyone to have a better understanding of other people's culture and beliefs. View these differences not as a hindrance but as a way to enrich oneself.
  
  
• As always, education and awareness is the key. Allow employees to examine themselves to identify any issues contributing to poor performance.
  
  
• Start a support group for people to talk with when they feel that they are being singled out. It is important to have someone to talk to that can reintroduce them back to the team and encourage them to work as a group.

In the final analysis, the level of motivation of the employees dictate the path the organization will take, which is ultimately success or failure. A well-motivated employee will engage, produce, and give more discretionary effort to work and will contribute better to the success of the organization.

What you can do.

What does your organization do to create and support  Micro affirmations?

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BIOGRAPHY

Who is Andre Koen?
 Andre Koen is an energetic presenter, a powerful communicator, and a dynamic teacher.  There are many words that describe him. The most illustrative is, “Andre, the Enkindled Spirit”. Andre is a diversity trainer in Minnesota. He provides face-to-face and online courses on diversity education including leadership development, empowerment training, cross-cultural competence, sensitivity training, anti-racism training and team building. Most of his clients include professionals needing continuing education credits. His weekly blog includes ideas for controlling, removing, and fighting discrimination. Koen also offer one-on-one training and coaching. 

Andre helps government and educational organizations manage and train staff, employees, and clients on diversity issues without blame, fault or guilt. His organization understands that people are doing the best they can with what they have, yet encourages them to examine themselves, explore other cultures, and become allies for others. Koen works to move people's behaviors not by pushing them or making them feel guilty. His courses teach individuals to dissect, analyze, and making meaning of the issues that challenge us in a fair, balanced way that people can hear and understand. He motivates individuals to create something collaboratively.
http://portal.sliderocket.com/AMIRT/Andre

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