Disengaged Employees? Help is On the Way

A recent survey by the Employee Engagement Index through the Gallup Management Journal assessed the overall engagement of employees in the workplace. According to the survey, only 29% of employees were actually engaged. 54% were not engaged, and 17% were “actively disengaged.” Do you realize that “actively disengaged” means the employees actually exerted effort to BE DISENGAGED? Wow.

As an employer, this should bring a few questions to mind.

• What affect do disengaged employees have on my business?
• Why are these employees still working? Why don’t they just quit if they don’t like their jobs?
• What can I do to make sure this doesn’t happen in my business?

When it comes to  your business, recognizing and managing a disengaged employee is essential to ensure your business runs as effectively as it should and isn’t negatively affected by an employee who doesn’t want to be a part of your team. How do you accomplish this? Let’s take a look.

Recognizing Disengaged Employees

The first question is; What affect do disengaged employees have on my business? This can be answered before you even determine which of your employees are disengaged and which are not. Disengaged employees lower productivity, introduce negativity into the workplace, and cost the company hours and money due to their frequent call-ins and other behavior patterns.

The first step in managing a disengaged employee is recognizing them. This isn’t always easy, and generally can’t be done through one-on-one meetings, staff meetings, or yearly reviews. In order to recognize a disengaged employee, you’ll need to monitor the employee’s daily work habits and the work they produce.

Employees who are not engaged are much less likely to care about the quality of the work they do, the state of their job, or the number of days they take off during the month. They do the minimum in an effort to skate by in life undetected. If you watch them closely, however, you will notice these individuals aren’t happy, aren’t challenged, and aren’t willing to go above and beyond for any aspect of the job.

Managing Disengaged Employees 

So, if these employees hate their work so much, why do they still show up? Why not just quit?

A lot of employees don’t realize there is any other way. They haven’t found their passion yet. They aren’t doing what they love, so they are dragging everyone else down as a result of their dissatisfaction.

As an employer, you can’t allow them to continue dragging down their peers or the company. Something must be done. For some, this means termination. If this seems like the only option in your workplace, take a proactive approach and begin searching for a replacement using an employment service, such as HH Staffing Services. You should always have a relationship with your local staffing agency anyway. It’s a safe backup (and often a lifesaver) when employees do unexpectedly leave.

If you believe the employee can be reengaged, however, there are steps you can take. Here’s the breakdown:

• Train Them- Sometimes, it isn’t that an employee doesn’t want to be engaged. It’s that they can’t be. They simply don’t have the skills or knowledge necessary to be great at their job. If this is the case, take the time to provide them with the training to help them succeed.

• Challenge Them- In elementary school, one of the students in my class was known as the troublemaker. He scored low on every test, started fights, caused distractions in class, and never handed in his homework. One day he disappeared from the classroom. It was only later I found out that he was moved up two grades. As it turned out, he wasn’t dumb or a troublemaker. He was simply ahead of the rest of us, which meant he was bored with the lessons and homework we did every day. He needed something that challenged him. Some of your disengaged employees may be the same way. Challenge them and you may see them soar.

• Motivate Them- Many times, employees don’t engage because they don’t feel as if they mean anything to the company. They feel as if they are just another employee and their work makes no difference in the long run. If this is the case for your disengaged workers, motivate them by letting them know just how essential their time and effort is. Show them how the simple work they do affects the entire way the company works.

Have a disengaged employee? Use these tips to recognize them and manage them correctly.

Are you in need of new employees for your company? HH Staffing Services is an industry leader providing permanent and temporary staffing to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Bradenton and Clearwater. Let us match you up with engaged, ready-to-work individuals who have been thoroughly screened and assessed for your convenience. Give us a call today!

Have You Heard, –HH Staffing is Growing Again!  We just opened our 4th office in Florida. Now open in Ft. Lauderdale!.

HH Staffing Services provides temporary and full time employment to the follow counties in Florida:

• Hillsborough
• Pinellas
• Broward
• Dade
• Osceola
• Orange
• Manatee
• Sarasota

Orlando Jobs – Serving Orange and Osceola counties call 407-401-9496

Clearwater Employment and Tampa Jobs – Serving Hillsborough and Pinellas counties call 727 538 4109

Bradenton Jobs and Sarasota Employment – Serving Manatee and Sarasota counties call 941-751-6262

Ft. Lauderdale Jobs- Serving Broward and Dade Counties call 954-916-2772