Have the stellar hires that you had high hopes for slowed down? Maybe you thought it was a momentary slump at first but they just don’t seem to be generating the same work they used to. Or they don’t show up to social events or seem to be as enthusiastic as they were in the beginning. Don’t brush these situations off thinking they’ll solve themselves. These are likely cases of disengagement among your employees.

Employee disengagement can come about in many different ways. For some, it may be that they feel underappreciated. For others, it can be the lack of work-life balance slowly getting to them and affecting the quality of their work. It’s usually a slow compilation of dissatisfaction that worsens over time and turns into less than ideal productivity.

As a business leader, you can’t just stop at check-ins twice a year, you need to make the effort to build a strong relationship with your staff founded on trust and honesty. The more they feel they can be open and candid with you, the better they can communicate any frustrations or air any grievances they may have, allowing you to think of actionable solutions to re-engage them.

Handling unmotivated employees and allowing them to have an honest conversation with you will help you better understand any problems they may be dealing with. And they could even be speaking for more than just themselves, but on behalf of others who might not be comfortable speaking up.

An employee that feels secure in their position, knows you’re looking out for them and their growth, and feels comfortable enough to come to you in case of any complaints is an employee that will be engaged with their work and produce the best quality output. 

What is employee engagement? 

Employee engagement is how committed an employee is to the company and how motivated they are to see their work through and turn in quality output. It differs from employee satisfaction where it’s the happiness of the staff member being measured rather than what’s driving them to do well. 

Addressing motivation and involvement is important because these two factors affect performance directly. While employees may be satisfied with their pay grade, they may not always be happy with the conditions they’re working in, demotivating them and having them do only the bare minimum to get by and collect their pay. 

Measuring engagement is important because you will get to the root of issues right away before they worsen, you cultivate a culture of trust and openness, and you show your employees that you’re part of the team with them.

Having a plan around re-engaging your employees will drive them to perform at their best and help you and your business out. 

Signs and causes of employee disengagement

Employee disengagement can slow down productivity, negatively impacting your work environment and the business if it isn’t addressed properly and immediately. 

While plenty of business leaders and managerial staff often misconstrue disengaged employees and think they’re lazy, that it’s not their job to re-engage staff, or that it’s easy to get their people back on track, you should know that it’s not that simple and that there could be issues within the company causing staff members’ spirits to dampen. 

There are several ways that this demotivation can manifest, here are just a few of them:

• Employees don’t turn up to social or team events – Disengaged staff members may feel like going to team or social events is a waste of time and not worth the effort because they already feel drained and unmotivated. 
• Decreased productivity and initiative – The disengaged employee won’t be volunteering for tasks that need to be done and aren’t as focused during work hours. 
• Decline in standard of work – Work quality is no longer the same as before. 
• Cynical, frustrated, or angry towards the business – When asked about their feelings towards the company, the disengaged employee will likely have nothing to say or nothing good to say.
• Lack of enthusiasm or care for the business – The disengaged employee is no longer excited about being in the business. 
• Absenteeism – Disengaged staff may not show up to work, even without permission.

While disengagement doesn’t happen overnight, there’s often a root problem that you need to identify in order to best address the situation. Some of these are: 

• Burnout – A disengaged employee may feel like their workload is too heavy and subsequently run out of fuel, making them less productive.
• Micro management – Management nitpicking everything they do can affect staff because staff will feel like there are constant errors in their process or output. 
• Lack of career growth and progression – Some employees may feel like they have no direction in the business and no opportunities for growth. 
• No clear business vision – The business standing on unstable foundations because there’s no clear cut vision set makes employees feel uneasy and like the business won’t go anywhere either, demotivating them. 
• Poor culture and lack of leadership – Weak leaders and a half-baked team culture can feel isolating for employees and they may not want to do their best in an environment that feels unwelcoming. 
• Underpaying employees – Employees want to be compensated fairly for their labour and underpaying them translates to undervaluing them, deepening the disconnect. 
• “Command and control” management and communication styles – Instead of allowing employees to innovate and take initiative, management and leaders dictate everything, making staff feel unfulfilled.
• Lack of recognition and appreciation – Not being congratulated for a job well done can demotivate employees because they feel as if they won’t be celebrated whatever they do. 

How do you re-engage employees?

It’s not easy to re-engage employees right away, but you need to understand that their disengaged state didn’t happen overnight either. Just like it took a series of unsatisfactory events to lead up to their disengagement, it takes more than just a one-time conversation or a quick request for feedback to fix things.

Engaging employees doesn’t have to happen just when you notice that productivity has changed for the worse. You should be laying the foundations of a good relationship at the very beginning, allowing your staff to see you as someone they can express any concerns to and talk to about any problems they may be experiencing. When that encouragement to be honest is at the very onset of a staff member’s employment, the risk of disengagement decreases. 

While a good, trusting relationship from the very beginning is ideal, it isn’t always the case. Other business matters can get overwhelming and have you too busy to cultivate those relationships, leading to staff members getting stuck in a rut. Working with someone who’s disengaged can be tricky but it’s your responsibility to reignite their enthusiasm. 

Here are a few things that you should do to keep your employees motivated:

• Give them work that they value – Being assigned work that matches with their values will make them feel more in-tune with what they’re doing and more deliberate and motivated to finish.
• Keep things task-driven and set aside emotions – Don’t act on irrational feelings, make sure you outline what needs to be done systematically but still with warmth and encouragement. 
• Set up an anonymous feedback system – Allow your employees to give you feedback without having to be named, this might help them feel less anxious to unload their real thoughts.
• Be transparent with their options and opportunities for growth – Show them what paths they have for developing their skills or even taking on bigger roles (with fair compensation).
• Praise their good work and help them improve on weaknesses – Ensure that they feel appreciated for what they do and show them that you care about them developing even further. 

While perks, benefits, and money can be short-term motivators, they don’t address the problem head-on. You have to make staff feel comfortable and valued with opportunities to grow and rise in rank. 

There are definitely things you should avoid doing, else you’ll just worsen the situation. Some of these are:

• Make assumptions – You can’t just assume that someone is a bad employee or flat-out lazy based on their performance, you need to get into the heart of the matter first. 
• Berate them without knowing all the facts – Telling the employee off without finding out what’s going on beforehand will spell disaster, especially if you’re relying on raw emotion instead of the facts. 
• Give them tasks outside of their description – Sometimes employees will feel resentful when given tasks that fall outside of their expertise because they weren’t hired to do those things.

If you fail to encourage your staff, show them appreciation, or refuse to help them see the value of staying with your company, they will leave, be poached by competitors, or even speak badly about your business.

It’s important to keep employees engaged, not just satisfied. Ensuring that they’re motivated, have a genuine interest in growing the business alongside you, and are energised about working will lead to higher productivity, a stronger team culture, and a more positive work environment. It will be fulfilling to see your staff so happy and motivated and you’ll grow a stronger, more trusting bond with them because you all have the business’ best interests in mind.

If you want to learn more about engaging your employees and keeping them happy, give us a call.