In many organizations, you'll find people with the exact expertise to help, but the task isn't part of their job description or related to their KPIs. They might help out for a short while, but long-term assistance just increases their own workload. Meanwhile, you can't hire a dedicated person for the role due to workload constraints, and outsourcing is expensive and often inefficient, with endless back-and-forth that fails to deliver. Once we understood that the essence of helping each other at work is built on reciprocity—and that you can't always be trying to get a little extra out of people or pressure them into doing things—everything became much easier. Ultimately, we decided to let employees help out after hours in exchange for a special day off, with the option to cash it out at the end of the year if they didn't want to take the time off.

The Results The Company - Saved money, had someone to help resolve product issues, and achieved a smoother launch. The Manager - The problem was solved, the work got done, and they knew they could find help again in the future. The Employee - Contributed extra effort and, in return, earned an extra day's worth of pay.

Often, it's not that employees aren't proactive; it's that the organization lacks the right mechanisms to incentivize their efforts. Of course, there are always exceptions, but they are in the minority.