The warning signs of employee disengagement
15 insights to identify whether you are dealing with an engaged or disengaged employee
Employee disengagement hurts morale, impacts productivity and can spread to other workers fast so it ‘s important to check in from time to time to ensure our employees are not drifting towards disengagement. Here’s a quick check for you to consider in relation to each of those people you manage right now.
What is working well? What might need tweaking?
Engaged employee
Disengaged employee
- Looks relaxed
- Smiles and gives good eye contact
- Leans in
- Listens well
- In work
- Shares ideas
- Asks questions
- Positive vibes and words during each interaction
- Leaves you feeling warm and good after you talk to them
- They look confident and in control
- Customer complaints are resolved
- Productivity is high
- Quality is strong
- Strong relationships with others
- Calm, confident authority at work
- Tense and anxious
- Looks down and away
- Looks as though they want to escape the room or conversation
- Glazed eyes and seldom hears what is said or asked
- Off sick or 'gone missing'
- Gives nothing away and shares nothing
- Silent and potentially glum too
- Negative vibes and words when meeting you
- Leaves you feeling anxious and unsure
- They look as though they have lost control (of career/tasks etc)
- Customer complaints are left unresolved or unsatisfied with outcomes
- Productivity is neutral or low
- Errors keep emerging
- They have started to really keep themselves to themselves
- Panic and upset are the norm
How to effectively re-engage a disengaged employee
The cause of your employees disengagement is key to their re-engagement, so find the right space and time to talk to them so you can better understand what has been going on for them. Don’t be tempted to put this off because you are too busy or fear potential conflict or awkwardness. If you put it off, the disengagement is only likely to increase
If you want to engage your team members then remember that people generally like nothing better than feeling as though they are being ‘seen’ and ‘heard’, so be patient, give them time to talk, listen attentively and make sure to let them know that you are genuinely listening, rather than giving them 5 minutes ahead of rushing to your next task!
If the cause of their discontent comes from inside the organisation, this is a great opportunity for you to understand concerns and frustrations. Be open to trying different work setups, implementing or changing tasks that they suggest might help them re-engage. But equally, be prepared to challenge or gently question/push back if perhaps their expectations of someone or something are too high. This should be an ongoing discussion between you that creates an opportunity for greater understanding and enables an exploration of potential solutions and shared responsibility for moving towards re-engagement.
Professional development can of course also be a great catalyst for employee re-engagement as learning often gives someone the sense of being empowered and we will all have met people whose disengagement stems from a sense of disempowerment and loss of control.
If engagement is on your mind right now as a result of ongoing pressures, how about a few hours of team building? We have a great opportunity for you with our Festive Sprint – some experiential team building involving supporting a community in need (online) on 4th December.