There are two types of effort at work.
The first is Mandatory Effort. This is the baseline. It is showing up on time, wearing the right PPE, and doing exactly what is written in the job description. You can buy this effort with a paycheck. You can enforce it with management. You can threaten a job for it.
The second type is Discretionary Engagement. This is the magic.
Discretionary engagement is the extra care an employee takes to double-check a measurement so the team doesn’t have to rework it later. It is staying ten minutes late to organize the gang box. It is mentoring the greenhorn without being asked.
It is the gap between “I have to do this” and “I want to do this.”
You cannot demand discretionary engagement.
You can demand attendance. You can demand compliance. But you cannot demand that someone cares. That has to be given freely. And people only give it when they have been enlisted, not just hired.
The Transaction Trap
Most hiring processes are purely transactional. The company offers money; the candidate offers skills.
If you keep the relationship transactional, you will only ever get mandatory effort. When the clock strikes zero, the work stops. When a better offer comes along for a dollar more, the loyalty vanishes.
Leaders who struggle with turnover often blame the workforce. They say, “People aren’t loyal anymore.” But this lack of loyalty is usually a reflection of the leadership, not the employee.
If you treat people like line items on a budget, they will treat you like a source of funds. That is a fair trade. But it won’t build a great company.
A company is a collection of agreements and the mission and leadership determine the strength and nature of those agreements.
Enlisting Unlocks Potential
To get that discretionary effort—the effort that builds great projects and safe cultures—you have to enroll people in something bigger than a paycheck.
You have to enlist them in your mission. You get to.
Enlisting is an act of leadership. It invites the employee to take ownership. It connects their daily tasks to the success of the whole team.
- Management controls compliance. It asks, “Did you do it?”
- Leadership inspires contribution. It asks, “How can we do this better together?”
Ownership Starts at the Top
You cannot expect high engagement from your team if you have low engagement with them.
If you want them to go above and beyond, you have to go first. You have to show them that their work matters to the bigger picture. You have to prove that you are fighting for them, not just profiting from them.
It is easy to hire hands. It is much harder to enlist hearts. But if you want a team that looks out for your business as if it were their own, you have to stop trying to control them and start inspiring them.
