Discretionary Performance and an Evironment for Innovation

It's the Norm, Not an Expectation

It is our expectations as customers for products and services that are near perfect quality that requires a business to always be thinking about making it better. It is you and I and our “I want it now” demands, that mean nothing can stay stagnate. At the same time, as investors, we want top return on our investments. A return of 3 to 5 percent just won't cut it. Thus these same companies must do it cheaper and faster. Businesses have to demonstrate the ability to perform at a high level on a sustained basis in order to achieve on-going improvement in their stock price and gain Wall Street's favor. Yes it is you and I and our expectations that create workplaces filled with endless change and an almost impossible pace. It should not be a surprise then that organizations have come to expect employees to champion “continuous improvement” through their innovation and creative ideas.

Continuous improvement; never have two words become both a drumbeat for challenge and the drip-drip-drip water torture like sound of never being satisfied. Organizations need the discretionary performance people have to offer if the organization is to continuously improve. Discretionary performance, the potential performance each of us can give, is where people go beyond the day-to-day expectations and offer their ideas to make things better. Each of us decides every day whether we bring that extra effort to work or somewhere else in our lives. Organizations need employees to not only be willing but also excited about offering new ideas, creative solutions, innovative twists on the product or service we offer our customers.

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So as a leader, how can I maximize discretionary performance? Here are a couple of thoughts.

First, I have come to believe that the work environment plays a bigger role in people making that choice than any other factor. As a leader of a team or an entire organization, I need to create an environment that my team members feel important and believe what they do will make a difference. People give their discretionary performance not because it is demanded but because they believe it will make a difference about something they care about. Help them see that by talking about it.

Leaders need to intentionally pay attention to their people and let them know when their efforts to innovate and try new approaches have made a difference. Continuous improvement focuses on challenging what needs to change, but leaders also need to reinforce the behaviors they want repeated. It is the positive feedback about the good things someone does that demonstrates more than anything else what is desired.

Help ideas get a hearing. Talking about what you like regarding a new, creative idea before being critical about what you don't like allows ideas to see the light of day. When the first thing spoken about a new idea highlights the negative, the positive possibilities never get said. Potentially good ideas too often die before they even get a chance to be discussed. Leaders can both encourage these positive discussions and more importantly, do it.

That brings up probably the most important principle leaders must remember in promoting discretionary performance. What a leader models sets the tone for everyone else and ultimately defines the workplace environment. Pay attention to what you talk about, what you reward, where you spend your time, and how you deal with critical moments. It is amazing how people will begin to change themselves when the leader consistently sets the example in relationship to any aspect of the workplace. Be intentional about what you say and what you do. Although creativity is a gift for some, leaders can maximize all employees being willing to think creatively and innovate by modeling the behaviors that sets the tone for everyone.

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