Understanding Motivation – City of AuroraExperts have said todays economy is the worst the American people have seen since the Great Depression. Major corporations are finding ways to reduce costs, including major layoffs and reorganizational plans of the companies; the City of Aurora is no exception. The Citys 2010 budget had to go from $246,400,600 to $231,200,803 which included eliminating 10 vacant positions, 16 transferred positions, 48 filled full time positions and doing a whole reorganization between departments within the General Fund and the remaining full time employees associated with other funds. The employees that were fortunate enough to “dodge” the layoffs for this year have been told by the City Manager that in order to provide the best possible services to the citizens with the resources that are available, the “work more with less” motto has to be implemented across the board. We, as City employees, need to cover more job functions, take on more work and ensure the same amount of efficiency is provided to the citizens with working for less money, furlough days being implemented, future layoffs occurring and training budgets to further career education being cut by more than half. With all that said, finding a motivated career service employee currently working for the City of Aurora that has a high level of job satisfaction is like finding a needle in a haystack; it wasnt like that in the beginning.
In March 2008 I was offered the opportunity from going from the Audit division within the private sector to working for one of the local government entities in the State of Colorado. I was excited, but also extremely nervous because government agencies are known for hiring minorities and people of different cultures and diversities and the corporation I was coming from was more comfortable with keeping people within their homogenous group. Nerves attacked me in the beginning, but knowing I exert the characteristics of getting to know others for who they are and not where they come from or how they look would help me surpass the butterflies and go outside of my comfort zone to welcome the new organizational culture.
The Colorado State Council also sent a letter to the New Haven City Council of April 26, 2007. “This group of companies is well-known in our community and is known for their diversity and inclusive approach, despite the diversity of the local employees we work with. In October 2004 I was appointed to the Colorado office of the Director of Government Development of the New Haven City Council in the City Council Housing Board and were given a list of candidates to join me as a community liaison with our new headquarters.”
The Council also sent to New Haven City Council President Tom Johnson, stating, “This organization that I have been working with for almost 60 years is being approached for funding by many of the city agencies and community groups involved in building the new office and a vision to provide the opportunity to connect with and have an environment conducive to diversity and inclusion as the city, including the City Community Association, works toward in our core community, a work that will take its toll upon the City of New Haven. Many times, we have had community meetings and meetings where the members of the Council have agreed to meet with different parties to discuss issues regarding our city.”
The New Haven Council also called on the New Haven City Council and Colorado City Council to take “appropriate disciplinary actions against this organization for its discriminatory and retaliatory policies against our colleagues and employees in the local government.”
A.J. G. Mowbray at the New Haven City Council said, “Unfortunately, the City Clerk’s Office in the state has taken a few years (since 2009) to look for an internal review, which I can confirm is not available at the time of this writing. Unfortunately, we cannot confirm or deny the process or the findings of that internal review. As we have seen the negative impact of bias on people and the results of this recent investigation, there are good reasons for us to take it upon ourselves to look into these matters. I have contacted my office to provide my office or the office’s policy on the subject. Additionally, as with the Council’s decision and as with every other independent agency, our efforts should focus on addressing discriminatory actions that are being taken against many of our members in our community and the many people across the country. When we are informed of any action, we take that action to ensure that no violation of our policies or practices by this organization persists. While we also take this action under the policy of the Council, I cannot guarantee it will be followed, given our record of compliance on this matter, but to date there has been no systematic change to our policy or practice in regards to this matter. As a consequence, I cannot discuss specific policies or practices with your office regarding this matter. There is no change made to our policies and practices at home. The policies and practices of City Council are maintained by the City Council. I would urge you to review the existing policies and practices described in
Ive been with the City for two years and each audit I perform Ive made my own personal goal of communicating with as many people from different cultures and seeing how their home countrys government operated, how their policies and procedures were implemented and then trying to apply some of their concepts that would be beneficial to the City into a recommendation of the audit report. Being an auditor also entails having numerous amounts of meetings with staff members and executives of all cultures; therefore I take my time to listen to them attentively and confirm they understand my objectives for the audit and I understand how those objectives are being met within their division/department. Working so closely with these individuals and learning and expanding myself on both a personal