Discretionary Effort is Theft

The holy grail of employee engagement. Get better at it and what do you get? More discretionary effort from your staff. Get better and better at employee engagement and you get more and more discretionary effort.

Work Life Balance

Except…the last time I looked we only have 24 hours in any one day, and we can only function productively and meaningfully for so long. So for employees to give more of that discretionary effort to their employer, well that means they have less to give to themselves, their family and their friends. and that doesn’t sound much like a balance to me.

Unpaid Overtime

How much is enough? Workers in the UK already work among the longest hours in Europe. And according to the TUC, around five million UK workers contribute over seven hours extra a week without pay. They estimate that to be worth upwards of £4,500 ($7,200) a year in extra pay.

If employers are really serious about engaging, then more consideration should be applied to binning bonuses and distributing some of that pot and the savings that come from no longer having to frig the figures, sorry I mean administer the bonus scheme, as an increase in pay. And perhaps overlay an across the company flat rate profit share scheme to distribute part of the extra benefit gained from better work?

Acceptable Discretionary Effort

So if there are only 24 hours in a day, and we’re already working long hours and making unpaid contributions already, is there a case for acceptable discretionary effort? Perhaps there is. Let’s say your team has a major project to deliver within a certain time, and things are tight. If you work for an employer who already treats you right then perhaps being asked for a burst of extra effort to get something specific done is fine, so long as a) we can be clear on how much extra we think is needed and b) for how long. If discretionary effort becomes any more of an expectation that that, then it’s not discretionary effort, it’s theft.

photo credit

A Little Vulnerability Goes A Long Way

Summer camp is drawing near, and as is tradition I will be opening the entertainment on Friday evening. I’ve just found out the theme for 2012 is disco, did I ever tell you how much I hate disco? My spare moments are currently cluttered with The Bee Gees, Abba, and if that wasn’t enough, The Village People! I’m sorely tempted to squeeze in Disco Man by The Damned and Disco 2000 by Pulp just to try and hang on to my sanity.

Over the years I’m slowly learning to enjoy these performances, primarily because I’m learning to love the vulnerability that comes with putting yourself out there. I feel the same way about my ongoing art and painting project, and though I cringe a little every time I push the ‘publish button’ on a new piece of work, I’m equally stimulated because my learning is evolving.

Sten guns in Knightsbridge

In the world of work, I’m noticing it is slowly becoming OK to talk more about, and express vulnerability. It’s a hugely powerful way to demonstrate leadership and show, through demonstrating your own vulnerability, that it can be OK to make, and admit to, mistakes. Mistakes that we all can learn from. Too often I speak with Chief Execs and others who demonstrate bluster and swagger in public, yet show uncertainty which sadly often manifests itself in defensiveness and anger, in private. I have a little sympathy as too often, these people are fed lines that other people think they want to hear. And they are also responsible for their own actions. A lack of dialogue with front line staff and customers will do that to you.

Vulnerability is, I believe, an essential human quality. Without it we are prey to arrogance, over confidence and the kind of chest beating and hooraying that maybe, just maybe, does us more harm than good.

In case you are interested, my disco performance is on June 29th. Watch this space – I Will Survive 😉