Gallup, Inc., an American research-based, global performance-management consulting company, has defined disengaged employees as those who are “sleepwalking through their workday, putting time — but not energy or passion — into their work.”

Their definition of actively disengaged employees is that they “aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.”

Enormous loss in productivity

The problem of disengaged employees is rampant – across the globe, across industries and across sectors. This problem causes enormous loss in productivity, there is a decrease in efficiency and hence it builds up costs for the company that does not get converted into revenue and profits.

Employee disengagement can negatively impact the productivity of engaged employees, it can also cause a multiplier effect on associated companies, vendors, suppliers etc, resulting in a loss of productivity and money for the entire economy.

A huge number of workers all over the world are ‘not engaged’ or are ‘actively disengaged’ in their work, meaning they are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and are less likely to be productive. In addition they are far more likely to change jobs – this high turnover translates to higher recruitment, training and separations costs for companies. And though business leaders admit that employee disengagement jeopardizes company bottom line, only a small proportion does anything.

What causes disengagement?

What causes disengagement? Low salary and perks, insufficient income hikes, lack of training and opportunities for development are major causes of employees getting frustrated in their jobs and feeling alienated from the company. If they feel they are not going up the organizational ladder, or not getting bigger responsibilities, they feel they are doing badly and regressing.

But even more important is the relationship they have with their supervisors. Studies have indicated that poor relationships between employees and their managers are a leading cause, if not the leading cause, of employee disengagement.

Employees become disengaged when they are not correctly “enabled” i.e. they do not get the resources and support necessary to be effective or when they are put into “wrong” jobs that do not use their skill sets.

Ways to increase employee engagement

Ways to increase employee engagement would be to provide higher salaries and benefits, better working conditions, opportunities for training and adding to employee skills and capabilities. Mutual respect, fairness, personal expression, values, and trust are the other issues that influence engagement levels for all employees

But even more necessary is that supervisors and managers must combine engagement (the use of motivational tools), with enablement (the act of providing employees with effective resources). Seniors in the organization play a very dominant role in influencing the employees’ level of engagement and sustaining it, rather than having him become not engaged or actively disengaged.

Disengagement should be the trigger for conversation. Managers need to connect and build relationships that acknowledge employee strengths and capabilities, and create work to use and enhance those talents. When they look at disengaged employees, they need to think in terms of what is causing these employees to be disengaged and then take action to make those disengaged employees less disengaged and get them pointed in a more positive and productive direction.