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The Disengaged Employee - An Invisible DisasterHe shows up every day, five minutes before the workday officially starts and he doesn't leave early. He does his job without any visible deficiencies. He doesn't complain and he appears to be a likable enough person. There's nothing spectacular about him, but you certainly wouldn't call him a problem employee. Not even close. That's what you know. Here's what you don't know. He spends approximately half of his day working, if that. The rest of the time, he's on the Internet shopping and sending messages to friends. He's discovered that your company could cut key expenses by over twenty percent without any disruption but he hasn't bothered to tell anyone. He smiles through his teeth when he passes you in the hallway, but when he gets back to his desk he's using your printer and paper to produce another stack of resumes. He's disengaged. You didn't see it. You didn't know it. You didn't worry about it, either, because he was meeting minimal expectations. Had he been truly interested in the company and its success, however, he could have saved the business a great deal of money. He even has a few great ideas about how you could improve your sales figures. You've been bankrolling his online social life and his hunt for what comes next. You've missed an opportunity. So, what can you do about it? If you can't really spot the disengaged worker how are you supposed to counteract the destructiveness of the situation? You have a few options at your disposal and you should use them. First, you can do a better job of spotting potential problems. You can conduct research in-house that will reveal a great deal about your employees and how they feel about their jobs. The information may not be perfect, but it will paint a picture that might point out potential shortcomings. Second, you can fight disengagement by adopting engagement policies that target all workers. These vary from simple things like heightened levels of employee recognition to basic transparency at leadership levels to wellness programs and bonus opportunities. There's a wide variety of mechanisms that one can use to inspire greater levels of overall employee engagement. You'll hear executives say that they don't have an engagement problem in their company. That sounds good, but you need to wonder how they reached that conclusion. Have they missed opportunities? Where would they be if they created an employee-positive atmosphere. How many disengaged employees pass under the radar? You can't assume engagement in the absence of evidence of disengagement. Disengaged employees don't wear sweaters emblazoned with a big red "D" to work. Sometimes, they seem just fine. Sure, there are visible cases where someone "checks out", but a lack of engagement is often invisible. Don't confuse that invisibility with a lack of significance, however. Disengagement could be secretly wreaking havoc on your business' potential.
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More articles on running a business Are You and Your Employees Motivated and Taking Initiative? 7 Ways to Manage HR Through a Crisis Better Recruitment Advertising - 5 Basic Ground Rules |
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