Tackling The Great Detachment: Is Your Workforce Emotionally Disconnected?
FranklinCovey UK & Ireland
At FranklinCovey, we transform organisations by building exceptional leaders, teams, and cultures that get results.
Welcome back to Leading Behaviour Change. As summer holiday season comes to an end, we're tackling the latest workplace phenomenon to rear it's head: The Great Detachment. Also, in addition to our upcoming event tour Retention Is the New Recruitment, we want to invite you to another opportunity to join us (and other iconic industry leaders) in person! Learn more below...
According to a recent Gallup survey, self-reported employee turnover risk is at its highest point since 2015.
In 2022, 'Quiet Quitting' popularized the conversation around chronic disengagement, rebelling against the idea of 'going above and beyond' and putting a spotlight on the culture of overwork. The Great Detachment, coined by Gallup's Ben Wigert, solidifies this further in 2024, naming the trend of employees who are deflated, defeated, and waiting to leave.
If 'The Great Resignation' called in an era of the empowered employee galvanized into action by upheaval and new possibility, then 'The Great Detachment' marks a new one: An era of the indecisive employee who emotionally, not physically, resigns.
We completely understand (and relate to) workplace buzzword fatigue, but, there's no smoke without fire. So let's take a look at what's going on.
Is our relationship with work at breaking point?
You probably pay great attention to your financial bank accounts, the withdrawals and deposits made, but what we call at FranklinCovey the Emotional Bank Account is just as important. Sincerely listening to your colleagues concerns without interrupting? EBA deposit. Constantly controlling and diminishing a direct report's work? Significant EBA withdrawal.
The basis of all relationships, when the EBA balance is high, so is trust- both people and work thrive. When the balance is low, trust, engagement and loyalty plummet. Your organisational culture is the sum of all these individual EBA’s, and research shows you might be overdrawn without realising.
According to Hewlett-Packard’s 2023 Work Relationship Index, only 29% of knowledge workers consistently experiencing purpose, fulfilment and genuine connection to their work, and just 25% receive the respect they feel they deserve.
Perhaps most telling- and startling- is that 74% respondents in the UK “are willing to earn less if it means loving work more”.??
Some of the reasons employees may not be loving work right now include chronic change fatigue, overwork due to understaffing, low trust amongst hybrid teams, or a lack of recognition. The result? Emotional disconnection from the purpose and experience of the role.
What does 'emotional connection' at work mean?
Holistically speaking, connection is a sense of belonging, of feeling seen, heard and valued. It’s that feeling that we matter to other people, as a member of the team and play vital role in achieving the organisational goal.
Another way of summarising connection is the manifestation of what Stephen R. Covey, our co-founder and author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, described as the four basic needs of the Whole Person:
Body (how we live, physical wellbeing, energy, self-care)
Mind (our ability to learn, personal vision and aspiration)
Heart (our unique passion, strength of relationships, compassion)
Spirit (the overall guiding force which seeks meaning, contribution and purpose)
Connection then is a simultaneously grounding and unleashing force central to why and how we work.?Sound powerful? It is.
A connected company is a ‘sticky’ company. Emotional connection drives employee retention by making work feel less like a chore and more like a meaningful, enjoyable contribution. These are jobs people stay in- both mentally and literally.
Five Keys to Employee Loyalty
So what does it take to help your workforce commit and connect? Of course, financial compensation is incredibly important, but it is not the sole factor.
Our experience and numerous studies show us that a pay package can't make up for all other elements of life that fill our cup.
Here are five non-negotiables people need to connect to work, team and organisation:
Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to recognise, understand, and manage emotion in yourself and others. Characterised by empathy, self-awareness, honesty and humility, emotional intelligence is a 'soft' skill which provides immense power in the workplace. Whilst technical knowledge is transient, these power skills are based on timeless principles of human effectiveness which are future-proof but difficult to obtain. Emotional intelligence may seem like common sense behaviour, but it’s not necessarily common practice.
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Communicate to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.
That is also why knowledge workers would take an 11% pay cut to work somewhere with emotionally intelligent leadership. These are leaders who navigate adversity with composure, inspire confidence, actively listen and create psychological safety. In the words of Todd Davis, former FranklinCovey Chief People Officer, it is a leader's role to “communicate to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves”.
Intentional Inclusivity
Creating an inclusive organisational culture isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing what you’re already doing more inclusively. This requires the skills and courage to identify biases and then take steps to maintain fairness in all leadership tasks, from hiring, delegating, and giving feedback, to celebrating achievements and creating equal opportunity for all.?
Meaningful Recognition
Research shows companies that use recognition as a tool for workplace connection are nearly twice (2x) as likely to report that they’ve adequately addressed employee connection challenges than the average organisation.?
Peer-to-peer recognition can be even more profound. It encourages self-reflection, promotes interdepartmental understanding, camaraderie, and makes giving credit a habit. Simple moments of gratitude have the power to create a workplace people feel they belong to, both personally and professionally.
Personalised Growth Opportunities
Invest in employees as people with lives outside of work and motivating factors that go beyond toeing the company line. Listening is investing – take note of what your employees actually want and need, rather than presuming. Once leaders understand what makes team members tick, they’re positioned to offer the individualised opportunities for growth that will make them confident about their future- something Gartner's 2024 HR Priorities Report found that only one in four employees currently feel.
Trust
Last on this list, but certainly not least: Trust. With employees who feel trusted 1.3x more likely to put in their discretionary effort and those who don’t 2.2x more likely to leave, trust is not only a human imperative but an economic driver.
When trust is low, people become suspicious, guard communication, speculate, and disengage. As a result, productivity grinds to a crawl, and costs increase. When trust is high, people become confident, and communication, creativity, and engagement improve. As a result, productivity speeds up, and costs decrease. Ultimately, people stop wasting time and energy second guessing themselves or each other.
Like oxygen, you don't think about trust when it's present, but you certainly notice when it's absent.
[Networking Event] Join us for 'High-Trust Organisations: A Recipe For Success' on 10th October at The Kia Oval
So frequently misunderstood and underleveraged by well-meaning organisations, trust is the one thing that changes everything- from employee loyalty to strategic results.
But how is trust lost, regained and maintained? Murray Uniforms Ltd is hosting FranklinCovey's Tim Threipland at their next in-person event 'High-Trust Organisations: A Recipe For Success' to discuss the creation and measurement of workplace trust. Join us if you're interested in a complimentary day with:
First class speakers ?
A theme that affects us all ?
Fantastic networking opportunities ?
Optional post event hospitality (inc a tour of the Oval) ?
A stunning location ?
Learn more about what the day has to offer and register your interest here >
About Tim
Tim is FranklinCovey's OD and Leadership Practice Lead in the UK & Ireland, an internationally recognised coach and sought-after speaker. Equipped with a deep-rooted belief that people are inherently capable, his extensive experience spans almost every sector, with a recent focus on supporting executive teams in Construction, Logistics, Legal, and FinTech.