Aubrey Daniels - Discretionary Effort LogoWe need to reframe how we talk about / define employee engagement. In many employee engagement articles and discussions, discretionary effort is touted as the holy grail.  Engage your employees and they’ll do more for you: they’ll work more / longer hours, they’ll take on greater responsibility, they’ll take care of your customers, etc.

 

Employee engagement shouldn’t involve trying to get your employees to contribute more to benefit the company. It’s not just about the company. How do the employees benefit by giving more of themselves at work? There has to be a mutual benefit.

 

Discretionary effort shouldn’t be talked about as the goal of employee engagement. It is the outcome of engaged employees.

 

Let me explain.

 

If we associate discretionary effort as an employee engagement goal, it’s like putting the cart before the horse. According to Gallup’s State of the American Workplace Survey, 70% of all employees are either “Not Engaged” or “Actively Disengaged;” only 30% are “Engaged.”1 Some employees may give the company their discretionary effort but for most, the company still has to earn that privilege.

 

Let’s define the term. “Discretionary effort is the level of effort people could give if they wanted to, but above and beyond the minimum required.”2

 

Did you catch that? “…above and beyond the minimum [effort] required.”3

 

We are setting ourselves up for disappointment by expecting more than we should. It’s the managers and companies who determine the minimum required effort. They are the ones who establish the job descriptions. They make the hiring decisions. They are the ones who discuss role expectations with employees. Perhaps they aren’t setting those expectations high enough.

 

Role expectations need to be better defined. Not an easy task, I know. Yet, it’s up the company and, by default, each manager to be able to convey what each role entails. This means that every person’s minimum expected effort is clearly defined. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, employees need to be held accountable for meeting those expectations.

 

That’s only a start. After laying the foundation, now we have to focus on employee engagement.

 

Between the expectation setting and accountability, managers must focus on better engaging their employees. This means they need to:

  • Develop a meaningful employee-manager relationship with each employee so that they can understand the employee’s needs and equip employees with the with resources they need to meet role expectations
  • Recognize and reward employees as a means of changing / reinforcing behaviors and expectations.
  • Focus on each employee’s growth and development.
  • Provide advancement opportunities.

 

To engage our employees, we have to play the long game. Too often, companies opt for the quick fix by adding a perk, scheduling an employee appreciation day, etc. This is a short-sighted. Employee engagement takes time and focus.

 

The company and its employees can succeed if they form an alliance in which the company focuses on its employees by investing in the development of their careers and networks and where employees focus on the success of the company by being actively committed to the organization and its goals.

 

As the company begins to build a trusting relationship with its employees, then, and only then, will discretionary effort come into play. If employees feel supported, recognized, and nurtured, then they’ll want to reciprocate by becoming more deeply involved in the success of the company. If we return to the definition, “Discretionary effort is the level of effort people could give if they wanted to.”4

 

Discretionary effort is an outcome of engaged employees. Let’s stop talking about it as the goal of employee engagement. Instead let’s raise the bar on our expectations of what the minimum effort entails and commit to focus on the drivers of employee engagement.

 

 

1 “State of the American Workplace.” Gallup.com. Gallup, Inc. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. <http://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.aspx>.
2 “Discretionary Effort.” Aubrey Daniels. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. <www.aubreydaniels.com/discretionary-effort>.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.

Photo Credit: AubreyDaniels.com

 

 

 

What are your thoughts on discretionary effort? What do you think about addressing the minimum required effort?

 

Let’s Engage!

I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson. 

Employee engagement is a critical mission. I hope I can count on your help! Subscribe to the RSS Feed to receive the latest intelligence/insights and/or register to make entries in the comments log.

Photo of Gregory F SimpsonYou can follow me @agtinengagement.
Email me at g…@a…t.com.
Connect via LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/in/GregoryFSimpson.
Learn more about me at gregoryfsimpson.com.

 

 

P.S.  First contact? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement community. Explore and join fellow employee engagement operatives in targeting a known thief – alias: Disengagement. Together we can bring this thief to justice and make the world a better place for all companies and their employees.

Other recent Agent in Engagement data/reports by Agent Gregory F Simpson: