Fighting the rapid spread of employee disengagement

Published: July 5, 2024 | by Victoria Kelleher, Lead Survey Specialist at Brightmine

The problem of employee disengagement is increasing in prevalence. Recent data from Gallup found that engagement among US employees has reached an all-time low in 2024, with a ratio of 1.8 engaged workers per every actively disengaged worker.

Disengagement to this degree can drain an organization’s productivity and wreak havoc across a range of business outcomes. In fact, the cumulative effects of employee disengagement are estimated to cost up to 9% of the global GDP in lost productivity each year.

At these levels, it is unlikely that any organization is entirely spared from the effects of employee disengagement. However, disengagement can be hard to detect, and even harder to address.

According to a report from McKinsey, disengaged employees most often fall into the “mildly disengaged” category. These employees are not actively disruptive, but their dissatisfaction causes them to underperform or avoid making contributions that go beyond what is required in their job description. Often, this type of disengagement can go unrecognized.

Causes of disengagement

Because disengagement can fly under the radar, employers should put measures in place to prevent disengagement from developing in the first place. There are various factors that have been connected to employee disengagement.

Although some causes of disengagement are not directly in an employer’s control, organizations can still benefit by providing resources that support employees through the stressors they are likely to encounter, such as bereavement or illness.

Employers should recognize that disengagement is not always due to the personal issues of employees. Disengagement is often caused by inefficient processes within the organization itself. On the bright side, this means that employers can control employee disengagement by recognizing its causes and working to prevent them.

How to increase engagement

Collecting employee feedback helps employers identify the extent of disengagement and its root causes for targeted intervention. Employers should review each of the areas listed above to make sure that their organization is well-equipped to stave off the most common causes of disengagement before they become a problem. This process may include:

• Reviewing compensation practices by examining pay equity within the organization and benchmarking the competitiveness of pay against the market;
• Identifying and addressing issues with company culture and workplace conflict;
• Identifying and reworking disruptive processes;
• Reassessing job design and balancing workloads within teams, including potentially hiring additional support for employees with heavy workloads;
• Training leaders and managers to avoid micromanagement and facilitate employee feedback;
• Developing adequate reward and recognition systems;
• Reassessing the measures in place for career growth to promote a culture of continuous development, and;
• Supporting employees experiencing personal issues by providing resources for employee well-being.

Employers that work through each of these areas to align themselves with leading practices will have a much better chance of addressing disengagement effectively or preventing the issue from occurring altogether.