Most leaders would say they want their people to work efficiently.
We invest in technology, improve processes, eliminate unnecessary steps, and hold meetings about increasing productivity. We encourage people to find better ways to get things done.
Then an employee figures out how to accomplish in four hours what used to take eight.
What do we do?
We give them four more hours of work.
Think about the message that sends. The employee who becomes more efficient isn’t necessarily rewarded for becoming more efficient. Instead, efficiency may earn them additional assignments, another meeting, or responsibility for even more work.
Eventually, people figure out how the system works.
Maybe the smartest thing to do is not finish early.
What Are We Really Paying For?
For generations, much of the workplace has been built around time. You arrive at a certain hour, work for a certain number of hours, and leave at a certain time.
For many jobs, that structure remains necessary. A nurse covering a shift, an employee working on a production line, someone staffing a customer service function, or anyone whose responsibilities require specific coverage needs to be available during those hours. Results matter in these roles too, but so does presence.
Many other jobs don’t work that way. The work may be project-based, customer-based, deadline-based, problem-based, or results-based.
If we tell people that performance and results matter, then we should be prepared for what happens when someone becomes exceptionally good at producing those results efficiently.
Otherwise, we’re sending two different messages.
We tell employees, “Work smarter.”
Then when they do, we tell them, “Here’s some more work.”
Efficiency Shouldn’t Carry a Penalty
My view on this is pretty simple.
If someone can accomplish the right things in four hours, at the quality we agreed upon or better, I’m not interested in inventing another four hours of work simply because the traditional workday says there should be eight.
That doesn’t mean responsibilities disappear. Customers need to be taken care of. Commitments need to be met. Colleagues shouldn’t be left carrying someone else’s responsibilities. Communication and responsiveness still matter. The work needs to be done well, not merely done quickly.
But when those expectations are being met, why should we care whether the work took four hours or eight?
Go spend time with your family. Work out. Take a walk. Read a book. Learn something. Coach your kid’s team. Do something else that matters to you.
The organization received the performance and results it expected—or better. The employee gained something increasingly valuable: time.
That sounds like a pretty good exchange.
Be Careful What You Measure
When we measure hours, people become conscious of hours. When we measure activity, people become conscious of activity. When we measure whether someone appears online, people become conscious of appearing online.
None of those necessarily tells us whether the right work is being accomplished.
People aren’t foolish. They learn what the organization values by watching what leadership measures, rewards, questions, and recognizes.
If completing a project early simply means receiving another project, eventually some people will learn to make the first project last longer. Others may stop looking for faster or better ways to get the work done.
That’s not necessarily a character problem.
It may be an incentive problem.
We may have created a system that teaches people there is little benefit to becoming more efficient—or at least little benefit to letting anyone know just how efficient they have become.
Now we have a problem that leadership may have helped create.
Leadership Has a Responsibility Too
Moving toward a results-oriented workplace doesn’t mean leadership simply announces, “You’re responsible for results,” and walks away.
Leaders have work to do.
What are the priorities? What does successful performance look like? Which deadlines actually matter? Where does the employee have authority to make decisions? What requires collaboration? When is availability important? What quality standards must be maintained?
If those things aren’t clear, telling someone they’re being measured on results isn’t particularly useful.
An employee may believe they had a terrific week because they completed twelve tasks while their manager wonders why the three most important priorities remain unfinished.
That’s not always a performance problem.
Sometimes it’s a clarity problem.
And clarity is a leadership responsibility.
The New Relationship With Work
Much of the workplace conversation has been about where people work, when they work, and how organizations know whether they’re working.
I think there’s a better conversation to have:
What are we trying to accomplish?
Define the work that matters. Establish clear expectations. Give people the tools and authority they need. Hold them responsible for quality, commitments, communication, and results.
Then allow good people to figure out how to do their best work.
Some will need eight hours. Some days will require ten. And sometimes an employee may accomplish everything that matters in four.
When that happens, our first question shouldn’t automatically be, “What else can we give them to do?”
Ask another question:
“What can we learn from how they did it?”
Maybe they found a better process. Maybe they eliminated unnecessary steps. Maybe they organized their work differently. Before immediately filling the time they saved, understand how they created it.
There may be something the rest of the organization can learn.
Now efficiency isn’t something to hide. It’s something worth sharing.
Think About This
What happens in your organization when someone becomes significantly more efficient?
Are they rewarded with greater flexibility and trust—or simply rewarded with more work?
More importantly, what lesson does that teach everyone else who is watching?
Action Items
Look at one role or team in your organization and ask what you’re actually measuring: time, visible activity, performance, or meaningful results.
Identify the two or three outcomes that matter most. Make those expectations clear and give people room to determine the most effective way to accomplish them.
When someone finds a better way to produce excellent work in less time, don’t automatically fill the time they saved.
First, learn from them.
Efficiency shouldn’t be something employees learn to hide.
Wenkroy International LLC is a Professional Advisory company with a main purpose of helping entrepreneurs and business people create the strategy, the plan and the steps necessary to achieve that person’s vision for their business and often their life, while navigating the obstacles which may be blocking them from reaching their goals. The process may involve one on one coaching, advising, laser focus days, personal growth workshops and more. The methods utilized are determined together. The results and value positively impact individuals, teams, divisions and across entire companies. People are now able to focus on what matters most to them, because, they have clarity on where they are heading.
As always share the information in this article with people you know.
Leave a Reply