KEY HIGHLIGHTS
96.2% of employees at Best Workplaces say people are willing to go the extra mile, compared to just 56% at typical Australian organisations.
Trust is significantly higher in top-performing organisations, with Best Workplaces scoring 96 on the Trust Index versus 89 in the Australian benchmark.
In lower-trust workplaces, core culture metrics like credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie typically fall in the high 50s to low 60s
It’s pretty rare for a good employee to just wake up one day and decide they’re done giving their best. More often, it’s something that builds over time. Small signals add up, effort goes unnoticed, priorities feel unclear, and people start to wonder whether what they’re doing actually matters.
When that happens, people don’t necessarily leave or drop the ball altogether. They keep doing their job, but the extra energy, the kind that lifts performance, strengthens teams, and drives better results, slides. The real challenge for leaders isn’t getting more out of people, it’s building a workplace that people believe is worth giving more to.
“As a leader, if I am looking at disengaged employees and my first instinct is to question their work ethic, I am asking the wrong question. The more uncomfortable question is: what have I built that would make anyone want to give more than the minimum?” said Evelyn Kwek, Managing Director of Great Place To Work ASEAN and ANZ.
What discretionary effort has to do with it
Discretionary effort is the gap between what an employee has to do and what they choose to do. It can look like helping a colleague meet a deadline or bringing care and attention to work that could otherwise be done on autopilot.
It is, by definition, optional. You can’t mandate it, incentivise it, or extract it through surveillance software.
People give discretionary effort when they believe their work matters, when they trust that someone notices, and when the environment around them makes going above and beyond feel worth the energy. In Great Place To Work’s Australian data, 96.2% of employees at Best Workplaces say people are willing to give extra to get the job done, compared with 56% in the standard Australian companies.
That difference shows effort is more often shaped by the workplace, not fixed inside the person. “I truly believe most leaders care, or want to care, for their people. The real test is between the intent and the day-to-day. What do we do in good times and bad times,” said Kwek.
What causes workplace withdrawal
When people stop volunteering ideas, stop stretching for better outcomes, and stop helping beyond their formal responsibilities, that is often a sign of withdrawal rather than apathy.
The Australian benchmark data support that pattern. At Australia’s Best Workplaces, employees report very strong experiences across the core culture dimensions, with scores for credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie sitting in the low‑to‑mid nineties. In typical Australian workplaces, scores on those same dimensions are much lower, usually in the high fifties to low sixties, which reflects a far weaker experience of trust and connection.
That gap shows how strongly workplace experience shapes willingness to contribute. When people don’t feel trust, respect, or pride in their workplace, they are less likely to go above and beyond. The response isn’t laziness, it’s often a rational decision to conserve effort in an environment that hasn’t earned more from them.
Five Reasons Employees Stop Going The Extra Mile
Kwek believes the key to understanding why employees disconnect is actually buried in the question every employee asks themselves every single day.
“Does what I do here actually matter, and does anyone notice? In most Australian workplaces only 56% of employees say people are willing to give extra. The leaders who close that gap, who are getting the best out of their people, aren’t doing something mysterious. They help employees connect the dots to see how what they do matters.”
Thirty years of Great Place To Work’s research has helped identify the five key drivers behind the decline in discretionary effort:
1. Lack of recognition
People stop going above and beyond when nobody seems to notice that they did. Think about the last time you stayed late to finish something that wasn’t your responsibility. Now imagine nobody acknowledged it, not your manager, not your team. How many times would you repeat that experience before you stopped volunteering?
Recognition requires attention, specifically and promptly, in a way that connects the extra effort to an outcome.
2. Unclear expectations
It’s remarkably difficult to give extra when you’re not certain what enough looks like. When employees can’t see clear priorities or feel resources are poorly allocated, they spend their cognitive energy trying to figure out what they should be doing rather than thinking creatively about how to do it better.
The fix is structural. Does every team understand how their work connects to the company’s objectives? Do managers translate high-level goals into specific, measurable expectations? Is there a regular cadence of communication that keeps those expectations current as priorities shift?
3. Low-trust leadership
Employees can believe their leaders are decent people and still not trust them enough to invest extra energy. What drives discretionary effort is a deeper kind of trust and belief that your manager genuinely cares about your development, that the company will follow through on its promises, that the effort you put in will be met with proportionate investment back in you.
Trust, Kwek said, “is built in the small, repeated daily experiences that either confirm or erode the belief that this workplace is worth giving more to.”
4. Bad team dynamics
Discretionary effort is contagious. When team dynamics are strained, you’re doing extra work in an environment where collaboration is difficult, credit is contested, and interpersonal friction makes every interaction more exhausting than it needs to be.
The rational human response is to pull back, focus on your own deliverables, and avoid the exposed position of volunteering for anything beyond your lane.
5. Limited growth opportunities
If extra effort doesn’t lead anywhere, extra effort stops. When employees perceive that advancement is political rather than meritocratic, the psychological contract frays and this is the ground truth beneath the discretionary effort debate. Asking them to give 110% is asking them to invest more in a system they don’t believe is investing back in them.
Leaders who want more discretionary effort need to build cultures that earn it. That means noticing extra effort when it happens, making expectations clear, telling the truth even when it is hard, and creating teams where people can speak up without risk. It also means investing in fair opportunities for growth, so that going the extra mile feels like a step towards something, not a dead end.
Frequently Asked Questions About Discretionary Effort
What is discretionary effort at work?
Discretionary effort is the extra energy employees choose to give beyond their formal job requirements. It includes behaviours like helping colleagues, suggesting improvements, and taking extra care with work. It cannot be forced and typically increases when employees feel trusted, recognised, and connected to purpose.
Why do employees stop going the extra mile?
Employees usually stop going above and beyond when their effort feels unnoticed, expectations are unclear, trust in leadership is low, team dynamics are strained, or growth opportunities are limited. Research from Great Place To Work shows these workplace factors strongly influence whether people choose to give extra effort.
Can leaders increase discretionary effort?
Yes, but not by demanding more. Leaders increase discretionary effort by building high-trust environments, recognising contributions, setting clear expectations, and creating fair opportunities for growth. Employees are more likely to give extra effort when they believe it will be valued and lead to meaningful outcomes.
What role does trust play in employee engagement?
Trust is a key driver of engagement and discretionary effort. In high-trust workplaces, employees are significantly more likely to go above and beyond. For example, 96.2% of employees at Australia’s Best Workplaces report willingness to give extra effort, compared to 56% in typical workplaces (Great Place To Work, 2025).
How can organisations improve employee engagement?
Organisations can improve engagement by strengthening recognition, clarifying goals, building credible leadership, fostering positive team relationships, and investing in employee development. These factors directly influence whether employees feel motivated to contribute beyond minimum expectations.
What are the signs employees are disengaged?
Common signs of disengagement include reduced initiative, fewer ideas or suggestions, minimal collaboration, and a focus only on core responsibilities. Employees may still perform their tasks but withdraw discretionary effort, which can impact team performance and overall business outcomes.
Is employee disengagement caused by poor work ethic?
No. Evidence suggests disengagement is more often a response to workplace conditions than individual work ethic. When trust, recognition, and clarity are low, employees are less likely to invest extra energy, regardless of their personal motivation.
