Don’t ‘Dumb Down’ Employee Performance
By Michael Neill, CSE
In my session on missional leadership at CUES Symposium: A CEO/Chairman Exchange, I presented the concept of “effort equity” that I developed several years ago. This concept begins to explain why most employees don’t fully engage in work in the same way their managers do and how organizations begin to accept this “dumbed down” view of employee performance.
Let’s briefly review the three levels of effort equity.
Level 1 – “Natural Effort Equity”
We provide a position description to an employee along with an agreed-upon salary. When we change the nature of the job or add to the responsibilities, the employee thinks, “What are you going to do for me if I take on this added responsibility? If I don’t receive anything in return, we no longer have an equitable agreement. You are getting more so, by default, I am getting less.”
Level 2 – “Comparative Effort Equity”
The employee observes other employees performing at a “lower level” and insulates herself from this less-than-effective performance by thinking, “I may not be the most professional dresser, but at least I’m not as bad as Sally. Every day she looks like she came straight from the bar. They’re lucky I don’t dress like that.”
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