In their annual study of employee engagement from around the world, Gallup has found the number of fully engaged employees has held relatively constant for decades. While on the surface this sounds like a good thing, in reality it is anything but positive news. Unfortunately, the number of workers fully committed to their jobs and organizations continue to hover at roughly 30% of the American workforce. This paltry amount of highly productive workers leaves the other roughly 70% of American workers to be either disengaged (i.e. apathetic towards their work) or actively disengaged (i.e. working in a way that actively works against the organization’s success). Can you imagine how successful your business would be if those numbers were reversed?
So what does your workforce look like? Can you spot the 30% of your staff that is driving your success? Or do they get lost in the 70% of your people keeping your organization stuck in neutral? The better question to ask is "When was the last time you really looked at your people, focused on identifying who is committed to your success, and who is trying to sabotage your results?" Whom do you see doing the brunt of the work? What do they look like? Who do you see zombie walking through their career day after day? What do they look like? And who do you see sucking the very life out of everyone they come in contact with? What do they look like? Now for the million-dollar question - Do you know why some of your people are highly engaged while others are actively disengaged?
Perhaps no decision you will make in your role as a leader has more impact on the engagement of your people than who you place in managerial and leadership positions. Employees generally quit bosses, not organizations. In a 2013 survey, Gallup reported that "the relationship with your boss" was cited as the number one overall reason why people leave a job. They found an employee’s relationship with his or her immediate supervisor easily trumps working conditions, compensation, and career development in determining whether an employee will stay or leave a job. In the same survey, Gallup further reported, “Poorly managed work groups are an average 50 percent less productive and 44 percent less profitable than well-managed groups”. Shocking and mind boggling. isn't it? Do you know what is even worse than having an employee quit? Having them stay despite despising working for your organization. They may have quit mentally and emotionally, but can't quit physically until they find another job. During this time, they are capable of sucking the life right out of your company.
Think about those people who you have entrusted to manage your people. Whom do you see inspiring and motivating others to do their best? Whom do you have that is content with being average and staying under the radar? Most importantly, whom do you see that is driving their best people right out the door to work for your competitor? Do you know why some of your managers are wildly successful while others are masters of complacency or are even undermining your success? More importantly, what are you actively doing to address this disparity?
Your people are the very lifeblood of your organization. Your people are the face of your brand to your customers, your suppliers, your vendors, and your community. You owe it not just to yourself, but to your organization to figure out how to ensure everyone in your organization is fully engaged in his or her work. You need to figure out what it is that drives some employees to accomplish amazing feats of ingenuity and productivity. What makes them different from everyone else? And what makes their work environment ripe to encourage such amazing accomplishments?
Much of what you are feeling is dictated by the level of employee engagement. Those groups infested by the downtrodden, sullen, and actively disengaged employees are often those groups who experience a revolving door of employees. They waste more money on their employee turnover than they do on their customer’s experience. If you pay attention, you can feel the level of frustration and ambivalence in the ambiance, and you can feel the business is unhealthy. Conversely, when you walk into a business that has a high level of engagement, you can feel the buzz in the air, the excitement and connection to the company from the majority of employees. Their turnover is low, their productivity is high and their customer experience is exemplary. Like a moth to a light, you are drawn back to the businesses due to your first hand experience.
It is this disparity between organizations with highly engaged workplaces, and actively disengaged workplaces, that is the focus of our work. Here, in this blog, you will find a consistent flow of articles outlining our stance on employee engagement, what it is, what it isn't, and what you can do positively advance your workforce's level of engagement. Mark us as a favorite, then come back on a regular basis to learn how to distinguish your business from that of your competitors, and how to deliver every increasing positive results by positively influencing the level of employee engagement in your business.
Best regards,
Scott Brown
Chief Engagement Officer, The Hardie Consulting Group
Scott Brown, MSOL, is the Chief Engagement Officer at The Hardie Consulting Group, an Orlando based consulting firm specializing in leadership development, employee engagement, and transforming organizational potential into organizational performance. He is an award winning speaker and an internationally recognized thought leader who has helped countless organizations learn how to meet shifting customer and employee expectations. Follow him on Twitter @ScottBrownMSOL and visit his company’s website www.HardieConsulting.com
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