Are your team disengaged?

Earlier this year Gallup reported that only 20% of employees globally are engaged so its quite possible that you work with someone who just doesn’t want to be there. Whilst an engaged workforce has a positive effect on business performance, disengaged employees can prove disastrous to an organisation so its important to realise when employees are starting to lose interest. Here are some of the things to look out for:

1. Arriving late, leaving early and generally bad timekeeping
2. A noticable drop in work output and quality
3. A change in working style with a preference for working in isolation
4. An increased number of unexplained absences
5. Not sharing ideas or fully contributing to the team
6. Making mistakes and missing deadlines when they were previously on top of things
7. An inabiity to, or disinterest in answering questions about their day-to-day role
8. Cancelling or rescheduling meetings with their managers or team members
9. A refusal to follow protocols
10. A negative reaction to change.

Once you have identified the signs of disengagement, you can start working on a plan to improve their engagement to get them back on track! Some of the ways you can do this includes:

1. Working with the employee to put a development plan in place - find out how they want to grow,  the skills they’d like to develop and potential growth opportunities
2. Setting goals with the employee so they feel more supported and can see how their work fits in with, and matters to, the organisation
3. Encouraging participation in one-on-one meetings so the employee can voice their concerns and wishes- then make sure you act on them!
4. Giving and getting regular feedback 
5. Recognising positive behaviour and strong performance in a way that the employee is comfortable with - a simple “thank you’ often works well!
6. Monitoring employee performance and potential to see if things are getting better on a continuous basis.  

Keeping employees engaged is a constant process that must be continuously worked on. Connecting and communicating effectively with employees can help you better identify and handle all levels of engagement.