Capturing Discretionary Effort

Below we discuss the following aspects of Discretionary Effort:

• What Discretionary Effort is
• Why managers should care about Discretionary Effort
• Who does a good job of capturing Discretionary Effort
• How your organization can capture Discretionary Effort

What is Discretionary Effort?

• Quite simply, Discretionary Effort is the difference between the full potential of any given employee, and the minimum required to NOT get fired.

Why You Should Care About Capturing Discretionary Effort

Often people talk about the intangible benefits of capturing Discretionary Effort.  According to a 2010 survey, here are some tangible benefits:

• Productivity – is 20% better with a more highly engaged workforce.
• Retention – highly engaged people are 87% less likely to leave their organization.
• Safety – highly engaged employees are five times less likely to have a safety incident, and seven times less likely to have a loss time accident.

What Organizations do a Good Job of Capturing Discretionary Effort?

There is a misconception that it is only cutting edge technology companies in the Silicon Valley that can aggressively improve employee engagement.  This is not the case.  In fact, it is often businesses in seemingly mundane businesses that routinely make up Top Employers Lists:

• Wegmans Food Market – Retail Food (Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 US Employers)
• Container Store – Retail (Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 US Employers)
• Luminus – Community Housing (Sunday Times Top 100 UK Employers)
• Beaverbrooks – Retail Jewelers (Sunday Times Top 100 UK Employers)
• BC Biomedical – Medical Laboratory Services (Canadian Business Top 100 Employers)
• Great Little Box Company – Manufacturing (Globe & Mail’s Top 100 Employers)
• Diageo – Manufacturing (Great Places to Work Australia 2010)
• Sentis – Education and Training (Great Places to Work Australia 2010)

How to Capture Discretionary Effort

The pool tables, concierge services, bring a pet to work policies and on-site masseuse may work well for some organizations.  For others, there are some conceptually easier ways to create a great work place:

• Create clear expectations. You people need to have a very clear idea of what it is you want them to do.  Most people want to have a sense of accomplishment, which is extraordinarily difficult if they have no idea of what the organization expects from them.
• Connect people to a larger picture. There is an old adage about the difference between a bricklayer, and a cathedral builder.  They may be doing exactly the same work, but the job has significantly more meaning for the latter one.  How can you connect your people to the larger purpose of the organization, or a greater cause?
• Create improvement opportunities. The days of linear career paths are quickly ending.  What learning and development opportunities can you provide for people.  For many employees a lateral move, or a special project is better than a promotion, so what can you do to give people the opportunity to improve?
• Encourage social networks at work. People will feel much more engaged if they feel they have good friends at work.  It also makes it much harder to leave an employer, if a good portion of your social network is there as well.  In many cases people spend more time with their coworkers than their families, so do not underestimate the importance of solid social networks at the workplace.
• Make people feel important. Regardless of the job, people like to feel that their contribution matters.  Leaders often underestimate the impact they have on people, and by doing something as simple as offering your full attention when you talk to someone, you can make them feel valued.

3 Things to Remember about Capturing Discretionary Effort

1. This is not a task, but a way to operate.  You can’t go out and capture discretionary effort, and then tick it off on your list.  This is an ongoing challenge for those in a position of leadership.
2. It’s not about the concierge and the spa. Look to do the fundamental things first, and only graduate to the sublime, once you know you have a well-lead organization.
3. You need to invest in leadership.  People and organizations need to take leadership seriously, and continually improve that part of their business.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Capturing Discretionary Effort (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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