Are you one of the 30, or 70%…(disengaged of the workforce)?

You may already be familiar with the fact that 70% of the workforce is disengaged…

The statistic comes from Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace. You can read more about the study’s methodology here, but quickly, the 70% is derived from self assessments of more than 6.5 million employees worldwide over the course of the three years. And in essence, to be ‘disengaged’ means that employees are not emotionally nor psychologically invested in their work.

This statistic is personal to me for many reasons. The following text might seem loose, but stay with me, and please, give me your take.

I had my first job when I was 14. In 30+ years as an employee and manager, I’ve seen TONS of instances of disengagement… tons of examples of employees just not caring … of employees assuming that employers are out of touch. An unfortunate result of this detachment is how easy it is to then become detached from the company’s success.

From a leadership perspective, the worst result of this lack of engagement is that productivity and quality of work suffers – profitability suffers, employee retention suffers, and customer perception suffers. According to Gallup, this is a $450-550B problem.

From an employee perspective, the worst result is that workplace satisfaction is null resulting in a numb experience of work and life. Further, disengagement is linked to employee absenteeism and stress. By some accounts, stress is the black plague of the 21st Century and is a $3B annual problem.

On the flipside…

Neuroscience proves that humans are built to grow, change, and be dynamic contributors in the various environments that make up their lives. While humans and modern workplace environments are dynamically complex, at a fundamental level, employees at all levels want to be engaged. I’ve seen this first hand when an employee who’s initially shown a careless attitude, suddenly tunes in when their opinion is sought in meaningful context. When employees engage, grow, and thrive, an organization can only be poised to benefit.

So supposedly everyone wants to grow and thrive. But in reality, as much as employees are detached from the success of their organizations, many leaders are out of touch with the 70%. This is a big problem and no one blog post or article can successfully solve this disconnect. But a few simple question might be asked:

‘Have the right conditions been set up to allow thriving people and organizations?’

‘Do all players have the right tools… do they know how to create the *right* plays that will deliver results and stay in the game?’

We need a better approach to managing the complexities of workplace environments, and there is a serious negative business consequence to being oblivious to the seventy percent.

A few tips and considerations, depending on your role:

Managers

By nature of the fact that you are ‘in charge’ of something (a department / your people), your work is often more intrinsically satisfying than that of the individual contributor. You are also (likely) more in tune with the strategic direction of the organization and as a result, more of your work might ‘make sense’ to you. When work makes sense, it’s easier to stay on track and in tune with how your day to day work adds up to the overall success of the organization. These characteristics are what place employees in the 30% who ARE engaged.

Ideas to help your people be more invested in their work, and more connected to success of the organization:

• Carve out time and space to listen to employees suggestions, concerns, even their complaints
• Sometimes this will highlight amazing ideas, sometimes a clear lack of alignment, and still other times, some time in discussion could help the employees understand what initially might not have made sense
• If an employee resists taking ownership and/or seems to be in a blame-game, ask a simple question. Ask him or her: “what do you need?”
• This open-ended question forces the individual contributor to be concise, reflective, and to take responsibility for what is causing the resistance. He or she might need time to go away and think. The answer could be as simple as a need for more regular check-in, or a little more coaching. Other times, this question could lead to the conclusion that the job isn’t the right fit

Individual Contributors

Something that often gets lost in organizations, is that someone (or a group of people) has taken incredible financial and emotional risk to create the company that employs YOU. There is probably an interesting story behind the founding of said company. Seventy percent of companies fail after 10 years. Your employer is one of minority and you have a role its continued success.

• Take pride and ownership in your work and seek ways to understand how your day-to-day output contributes to the success of the organization
• Working the 9-5 grind (on top of your other responsibilities) can take a toll on your ability to create space for exercise, downtime, and activities that nourish you. Be thoughtful and creative about how to carve time for the activities that will result in greater ease, overall health, and positivity

For additional strategies to reduce the 70%, contact Linda Stacy to co-develop and design a customized plan for your team / organization. Linda Stacy, linda@livingbluprints.com or 617.512.9572.