Do your team members discuss interesting articles related to business? Do your team members have impromptu celebrations of small wins? Does your team stay motivated after salary revisions? Do you see your team members showing up willingly each day and every day irrespective of work? If your answer to these questions is a clear ‘No’ or if you are struggling to answer them, you could be dealing with disengaged employees.
Very often we hear business heads and HR heads say that there is not much “noise” and hence all is well. “Attrition is manageable and we are able to replace people quickly” or “We need to get more activities on Fridays to keep people engaged” are typical things we hear in HR conversations.
What are we really observing and what problem are we trying to solve? What is staring at us on our faces could be a lack of engagement and we might be trying to address this in a very myopic manner just like trying to treat cancer with paracetamol! Wouldn’t it be better to identify the cause of the cancer and arrest its spread?
What could be the cause of the deathly silence? Working with several organizations across industries and helping them build cultures that drive engagement has given me deep insights into this. Here are my top 5 from the list.
Lack of Alignment of Purpose
Every individual comes to work with a purpose. There could be a monetary need, a sense of fulfilment, a psychological need to prove one’s worth, or even just an escape from something else.
Likewise, every organization has a purpose too! Why does the organization exist? What is its mission? More often than not, the mission remains a complex articulation of bombastic words on the wall. As long as the connection of organizational purpose with personal purpose is not made visible, disengagement can set in easily.
Not Feeling Valued
It is not so much about fancy joining kits and a great onboarding experience. But does each team member feel trusted for their capabilities and competencies?
Do they feel updated and informed about the business even if it is not relevant to their activities? Do they feel safe to speak up and take a stand on matters?
Humans have the ability to observe, think, analyze, decide, and act. A culture that curbs these instincts drives disengagement.
Lack of Flexibility
The pandemic has highlighted that it is possible for people to prioritize work and personal matters in a fair manner. When a team member is committed to delivering and is able to balance personal work as well, flexibility becomes a key ingredient for success.
In such situations, if there are meaningless bureaucratic rules, you are inviting disengagement with open arms.
Distance with the Customer
Gone are the days when customer insights were for the sales or marketing folks alone. If the production team does not know who and how the products they manufacture are used, they would be seeing only one part of the whole picture. Customer insights and feedback are great motivators for innovation.
Keeping customers at arm’s length from the rest of the organization depletes purpose alignment resulting in slow disengagement.
Siloed Working
Traditional organizational structures focus on the hyper-specialization of functions and individuals. When departments are unable to visualize their interdependencies with other departments, the impact of their action on the business outcome will also not be clear. Teamwork and collaboration are not enough if restricted within departments when the competition is actually outside. Not being able to visualize themselves as part of the big picture breeds disengagement.
While I do call out the above as my top five reasons for disengagement, you would have noticed that they are not in any particular order and in fact quite interrelated. As business leaders and HR leaders, it is important to take a holistic view of disengagement.
As Thomas Alva Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”, the leaders of the future will have to place their interest in making people feel valued, trust their potential and prevent disengagement.
