How would a disengaged employee impact an organization and what should one do about it….!

A disengaged employee is someone who does not enjoy his work, does not put any extra effort into work and hence does the bare minimum thus consciously causing problems within the companies. In short, disengaged employees are simply unhappy at work & are so dissatisfied in their roles that they end up working out of their unhappiness. Disengaged employees disrupt within an organization.

The most important indicator for identifying work satisfaction is to effectively measure employee engagement in the organization. Engaged employees deliver higher levels of productivity and improved quality of work.

There are several factors within an organization that is responsible for employee disengagement. It is extremely critical to address these to ensure disengaged employees do not impact business success.

The core issue of a disengaged workforce starts with Poor Management. Ineffective management is the leading cause of employee disengagement. Many forms of poor leadership erode employee satisfaction the most, further leading to high levels of stress and low employee morale. Poor management is indicated when the below comes to light:

·?????Failure to provide clear directions to employees

·?????Inability to provide constructive feedback and support

·?????Absence of acknowledgement for positive contributions

·?????When it is unable to make time to meet the employees

Disengagement stems from the fact that the employee is not the right fit within the company. The right selection of the candidate begins with the ability of the organization to evaluate the candidates’ right attitude. Though a good track record of an employee goes a long way in creating high-performing teams, it starts from the correct hiring choice that is a combination of the right attitude and appropriate skills. Most organizations fail to get this piece right and then end up creating and adding to the disengaged workforce.

The absence of career development opportunities for most suited employees is another glaring sign of disengagement among people within companies. Most employees are looking for opportunities for growth in companies, enlarge their roles, and look for options and roles to expand their skills. When these needs are left unattended and unmet, it creates a pool of people, but not engaged in their work. To keep employees involved in work, sense of purpose is crucial.

The Impact Of Disengaged Employees

The impact of a disengaged employee should not be underestimated. The first and most critical impact is decreased productivity. This implies that employees feel less motivated to contribute to work, are prone to high error rates in assigned tasks, will be on a continuous search for a new job opportunity and will eventually move on.

Another critical impact of disengagement directly reflects on customer experience. Disengaged employees being unhappy, disgruntled or feeling unvalued will lack the enthusiasm to extend par excellence customer experience or to keep the customers impressed. An engaged workforce is a key to improved client service.

Work quality is a clear indication of the engagement levels of an employee. If employees lack focus and there is a dearth of motivation it will show in goals not being met. It is more alarming a situation if the goals are not achieved by an employee who was earlier achieving them.

Absence of communication or broken communication is when an employee shows signs of withdrawal or there’s no active participation by an employee. The work fulfilment will be a bare minimum to demonstrate active employee disengagement.

Staff turnover is largely attributed to the bosses, not the jobs. Though this may be true to a degree yet a large set of people leave jobs since they feel that their key strengths are not being utilised, their career does not offer them enough opportunities to grow and develop new skills, and they do not find their work enjoyable. Hence, attrition is also widely attributed to disengagement among the workforce.

In short, disengaged employees will lead to failed corporate goals. This is said since demotivated employees are less likely to connect themselves with the goals of the organisation and so will not be inclined to work in sync with the overall goals of the company. If profit is the motivation of an organisation, employee engagement must be a top of the list item for the company. If employees are disengaged, it’s a sign that leadership does not care enough. Employee engagement is imperative to build a positive company culture and an environment encouraging the employees to contribute to the growth of the organisation.

What Can One Do About It?

Employees have the power to make or break the organization. Leaders across the world are investing in employee engagement and reaping the benefits of the engaged workforce already.

The key driver of employee engagement is leadership. The foremost responsibility to keep the people @ work engaged lies with the leaders of the organisation. Leaders are instrumental in playing a particularly important role in inspiring their employees to do their best work and produce a maximum outcome in commensuration with the overall goal of the organisation.

A clear vision of the organisation, the ability of the leaders to connect people with the organisation’s vision and goals, empowering the employees to achieve laid down goals, creating a sense of belongingness among the workforce, meaningful work and recognition for achievements thus creating fulfilling work relationships and finally offering career growth to the deserving can be organisation’s best foot forward in creating a Highly Engaged Workforce.

Employee engagement looks simple. It isn’t so. The organisations of today depend on the energy and commitment of their employees to survive and thrive. Keeping employee engagement is not a once in a while task. Companies need to learn and master the art of employee engagement. The principles of engagement must be prioritized and discussed frequently with the people. If the employees of the organization are engaged fully and actively, the company will surpass all its competitors and climb the rooftop.

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