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UNDERSTANDING THE DRIVERS OF
DISCRETIONARY EFFORT IN
ORGANIZATIONSA MULTI-COMPANY RESEARCH STUDY PROSPECTUS
WWW.DISCRETIONARYEFFORT.ORG
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On behalf of our research team, I would like to invite you
to
participate in our Research on Discretionary Effort (RoDE).
Would you like to be part of the study that helps you
identify
discretionary effort of employees? Would you like to measure
the
discretionary effort behaviors and assess how the behaviors lead
to
your organizational effectiveness?
We believe these questions are becoming more and more
important
for the companies in the future. Companies have already
pared
costs to the bone, tightened up supply chains, outsourced
non-core
activities, maximized pricing, etc. What else is left for
the
companies to reduce inefficiencies and achieve more? We
believe
the solution lies in the effort that the employees provide
beyond
their expected role. In other words, to differentiate the
performancefrom other competitors, much of the value added should
be coming
through discretionary effort.
Our scientific model is based on robust empirical studies and
our
goal is to increase the practicality of our research in a real
business
world context. By participating, you will gain the access to
our
models and assessment tools for discretionary effort, best
practices
cases from high performing companies, and insights to
tapping
specific discretionary effort issues of your company. You will
also
receive a free copy of our research result, which would be
published in a book.
Many multinational companies are currently onboard with us,
and
we believe your participation would enrich our experience and
as
well as our end results.
For your further information, please visit our website
www.discretionaryeffort.org
We hope to hear from you soon.
INTRODUCTION
INFORMATION FOR INTERESTED
ORGANIZATIONS
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Why research discretionary effort?
Discretionary effort in the workplace has been defined as going
the
extra mile within or beyond ones role going the extra mile,
going
above and beyond. Prior research indicates that these behaviors
are
associated with employees who are engaged, committed and
satisfiedand who are more productive, collaborative, and
innovative. Thus
the link between discretionary effort and competitive
business
performance is intuitively simple. But there are still major
empirical
questions that still surround the concept: Does an employee
engage in
discretionary behaviors because of certain factors in his or her
work
environment (e.g., caring management) or is it more due to
the
persons genetic make-up? Are there levers in the employees
environment that we can pull to enhance discretionary effort?
And to
what extent does it affect individuals, management, and the
bottom-
line of companies? Answers to these questions will help
organizations create the optimal workplace climate for
enhancing
discretionary effort, and identify employee characteristics that
can beused for selection and performance management.
Study Design
This is a multi-company study with companies representing
public,
private and non-government sectors. Data will be collected
through a
web-based questionnaire given to employees. Both closed and
open
ended questions will be included. The questionnaire is able to
be
completed in about 30 minutes. The following information will
be
collected:
Demographic Information
Discretionary Effort Leadership & Management
Job satisfaction
Organizational Commitment
Organizational Environment
o Procedural Justice
o Rewards System
o Resources
In addition to the above attitudinal measures, the survey will
also
include several scales that will assess certain predispositions
of the
respondent.
WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH
WITH THIS RESEARCH
BACKGROUND &
STUDY DESIGN
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SAMPLE QUESTIONS &
BENEFITS
Sample Questions
Discretionary Effort
Exhibits attendance at work beyond the norm
Job Satisfaction
How satisfied are you with your job?
Personality
Conscientiousness: I work hard / am always prepared
Organizational Environment
Procedural Justice:Decisions that affect me are usually made
in
fair ways at my company
Leadership
Self sacrificing:My boss is somebody who shows a lot of
self-
sacrifice
Trustworthiness:Managers have a strong sense of justice
Participant BenefitsThrough the participation of the survey,
companies will receive the
following for their support:
1. Company report containing DE levels with proportionately
allotted demographics as well as performance on the key drivers
of
DE
2. Benchmarks of other participating companies
3. Best practices from high performing companies
4. Free copy of the resulting book
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The project team is a collaboration between the Department
of
Industrial-Organizational Psychology at New York University
and the writing team of Marc Woods and Steve Coomber. We
are a group of people who are passionate about better
understanding how people work, what motivates them andhow best
to encourage them to go the extra mile.
DR CHRIS ROTOLO
Dr. Christopher Rotolo is Assistant Adjunct Professor in the
Industrial-Organizational Psychology Department at NYU.
He has over 20 years of experience in working with
organizations better understand key drivers of high
performance. His areas of interest include organizational
climate and culture, human resource selection, social
network
analysis, and individual assessment.
MARC WOODS
Working extensively with individuals, teams and global
businesses, Marc encourages them to develop best practice
within their given areas of interest. Approximately 25,000
people each year watch him deliver his inspirational
presentations and his current client list includes Barclays,
Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, GSK, IBM, Johnson &
Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Visa and Zurich.
STEVE COOMBER
Steve writes for the Times, CEO Journal, The Edge, Finance
Director, European CEO, World Finance and a variety of other
publications. Subjects covered range across the business
spectrum from leadership to taxation, from M&As, private
equity and collateralized debt obligations to innovation,
talent
management, and CSR.
THE TEAM
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For more information about the research objectives,
participation requirements, or general questions, please
email us at:
Tel. + 44 7751 09 08 09Email: [email protected]
Or visit www.discretionaryeffort.org
UESTIONS?
CONTACT INFORMATION
