A woman is standing at a retail counter waiting for help. When
an employee finally saunters over to ring up her purchase, he
doesn't smile or say "thank you." The woman leaves
with a feeling of discontent, wondering if she ever wants to shop
there again.
An "I don't care" attitude is ravaging businesses
from the assembly line to the retail floor. Research and consulting
firm the Gallup Organization estimates 70 percent of employees are
"disengaged," meaning they're no longer committed to
the company. Even worse, the longer employees stay, the more
disengaged they become.
Disengaged employees are "in a holding pattern," says
Curt Coffman, global practice leader of employee and customer
engagement consulting at Gallup and co-author of First Break All the Rules: What the World's
Greatest Managers Do Differently (Simon & Schuster).
"[There's] a comfort with being average."
Why Should I Care?
Content Continues Below
Employee disengagement is widespread at a time when companies
are trying to increase productivity and brand themselves. Layoffs
have put employees in positions where they feel poorly trained and
overworked, says Bob Rosner, founder of employee site
Workingwounded.com and co-author of Gray Matters: The Workplace Survival Guide
(John Wiley & Sons). "We put people in situations where
they can do the worst possible job as opposed to the best possible
job," he says. "Organizations don't give [employees]
reasons to care."
You can't afford to let employees stop caring. A ratio of
four engaged employees to one disengaged employee is where a
company starts to see gains in productivity, Coffman says.
"The key question is, What percentage of my employees are
engaged?" he says. "For every engaged employee, how many
disengaged employees are undoing what they're doing?"
Scan your workplace. Are employees going beyond their job
descriptions to help customers or other employees? Actions speak
volumes. The Gallup Organization asks employees 12 questions to
measure disengagement, ranging from "Do I know what's
expected of me?" to "In the last year, have I had the
opportunity to learn and grow?" The more employees say they
don't feel praised,developed and valued, the more likely they
are to be disengaged.
Do employees understand where they fit into your company?
It's easy to be so busy that everyone loses sight of the big
picture. For employees, "there needs to be a purpose greater
than themselves that they're working toward," says John
Ward, president and co-founder of TAParchitecture, an architecture firm in Oklahoma City
with annual sales of $2.5 million. Ward, 52, has dealt with
disengaged employees and has learned-as he puts it-not to hire five
minutes into an interview. He's also become a "one-minute
manager"-he offers feedback every day instead of waiting until
the annual performance review. "It's a full-time job to
keep people engaged," he says. "You can't buy
motivation."
Use one-on-ones as an opportunity to ask employees what they
think is expected of them. Their responses could be eye-opening.
Also ponder your own work experiences. Did you ever lose enthusiasm
for a job? If so, why? And what would it have taken to keep you
motivated? Chances are, you'll find a few lessons to apply to
your own company.
Get Them Going!
You have to discover and develop employees' talents if you
want to keep them engaged. Do you know each employee's three
strongest skills? Most managers focus on employee weaknesses and
try to fix the unfixable-a surefire way to destroy motivation. You
need managers who are able to put people in the right jobs and help
them build on what they already do well. "The real opportunity
for growth comes in utilizing your strengths," Coffman says,
adding that great managers "catch people doing things
right."
It may be time to reconsider managers who can't perform at
this level. Theresa Welbourne, founder and CEO of eePulse Inc., a
technology and management research company in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
has fired managers who couldn't energize the company's 15
employees. "Sometimes as leaders we create barriers for people
to get work done, and we're unwilling to listen," says
Welbourne, 47, who is also an adjunct professor of organizational
behavior at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
"[Engagement] is something every manager has to do with their
employees." In 2003, eePulse expects sales of $5 million.
Review employee performance formally once a quarter, and focus
on future performance instead of past performance. This is
especially important with longtime employees who may feel trapped
in jobs where they see little room for growth. "Ask, 'How
can we position you for success?'" Coffman says.
By re-engaging employees, your company will reap rewards in
lower turnover and higher productivity. Your customers will thank
you, too.
Chris Penttila is a freelance journalist in Chapel Hill,
North Carolina. She can be contacted at chris@sitting-duck.com.