Most employees want to be engaged in their workplace. Although the hope is that the work itself is interesting and important enough to keep them consistently invested, this is not the case for a large portion of employees worldwide.
When your employees no longer care for their job or their employers, they become disengaged. Some may have become passively jaded over time. Others, who are actively disengaged, may even intend to sabotage their work and the efforts of their coworkers, creating a toxic environment that may convert even more employees to become detached.
Having disengaged employees is not only bad for workplace morale, but also bad for the financial state of the company. It is estimated that disengaged employees cost the US an average of $550 billion every single year. That is a lot of money going down the drain simply due to employees not being invested in what they do. If your company is noticing that some of your employees are disengaged during work hours, learn how to motivate them with this guide.
Show Them That You Are Noticing Their Work Efforts
When employees work in isolation, they can often feel like they are not being appreciated whatsoever. This often leads to boredom or drift-off, resulting in unproductive work in the day
One method for preventing this is to remind your employees that they are valued and supported every step of the way. However, it is important to get this message across in a supportive manner, rather than a disciplinary method. You do not want the employees feeling like they are being micromanaged or sternly watched by a parent, but rather that the company is constantly noticing their great efforts at getting their job done everyday.
This will help employees feel like the work that they are doing matters, keeping their mind focused on the task at hand. One easy way to implement this is to regularly thank the employee for the work that they complete. When someone hears a simple thank you, it can go a long way towards motivating them to remain engaged in their work.
Be Goal Oriented
Another common scenario that results in employees disengagement is a lack of understanding goals and tasks. When an employee has a giant project or an ongoing task with only one very distant deadline, or no deadlines whatsoever, they can easily get lost or confused by it, resulting in disengagement. An effective way to prevent this is to introduce regular goals for them in the workplace. When an employee is given achievable goals to work towards, it helps to keep their mind focused on achieving those goals, rather than just working away towards some distant finish line.
However, merely setting goals may not make an impact if they are improperly structured. SMART goals are an important way of keeping everyone focused. These goals are specific, leaving no room for misinterpretation, measurable so your employees can feel true agency in their actions, and attainable so your employees can achieve their mission. They also need to be relevant to their skillsets, timely and regular.
Listen to What They Have to Say
Finally, when employees feel that they aren’t being heard, it can often cause them to become disengaged at work. Employers should do everything in their power to ensure that their employees are heard and that their opinions are valued. By having regular grassroots meetings and creating other open forums for the employees to come forward, companies can help them to feel much more active and engaged at work.
Your organization may also utilize quick micro polls and employee focus groups to collect feedback and improve your engagement metrics. By making these surveys short and consistent, you demonstrate that you value both your employees’ time and opinions. This also prevents the disengagement and distraction that an exceptionally long, boring annual survey provides.
To find out more about how a company can work to improve their employees’ performance, contact our team of professionals today.
