Research conducted by gallup.com showed that 15% of workers in Germany are disengaged in their jobs. A more worrying report by Gallup reported only 13% of employees are actively engaged in the US. Disengagement is not as simple as saying someone is unhappy at work, disengaged employees take less pride in their work, have less loyalty to their company and take more time off, thus costing businesses billions every year!
Disengaged workers costs the German economy 73 billion to 95 billion euros annually in lost productivity. Each day when someone is away from work in Germany it costs a business 252 Euros! Disengagement costs the US $2,246 per disengaged employee per year!
Seeing those figures should surely make any company sit up and be more aware of their employees. So why are people feeling disengaged?
Employee disengagement is primarily driven by how supervisors - from team leaders to line managers - manage people. Given the state of employee engagement in Germany today, it's evident that most managers aren't creating environments in which employees feel motivated.
The main reasons for disengagement as reported by staff were;
- Stress and isolation,
- Lack of training,
- Skills and accomplishments going unrewarded.
- No raise or financial incentives,
- Lack of respect,
- Lack of communication within the company.
- Too many restrictions and rules.
You might think staff leaving and moving on might be a good thing if they are disengaged. However, the cost of staff training and the fact that employees have desirable skills and knowledge, is enough reason to keep staff within your company. If you don't take full advantage of your employees another company or competitor will!
Word of mouth and social media all play a part on how staff express their disengagement with a company. If customers are considering a service or product, they will take recommendations from their friends, family, media and digital technology. If they are seeing negative feedback about a company that will affect their decision.
So can companies really afford not to take employee disengagement seriously?
