5 ways to re-engage disengaged employees

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is often attributed to the quote ‘change is the only constant’.  I think there’s one more: the role of the CEO. Despite the growing tough expectations from boards & shareholders, rising global challenges from war, geopolitical issues, inflation, supply chain issues to name a few, the role of the CEO remains constant – deliver a stable and strong performing company that is future proof.

While we look for the latest trends in technology, explore new growth markets and re-write our leadership playbooks to stay ahead of our competition, there’s one stark factor that we seem to have overlooked: the engagement of our employees who are deploying the new strategies, executing transformation initiatives and overseeing technology implementations.

Unfortunately, the global statistics aren’t great. If we look at the latest 2024 data from Gallup (the global authority on all things related to employee engagement), only 23% of our workforce accounts for engaged employees. The disgruntled and disenchanted category represents 15%; and the fence-sitting, quietly quitting, disengaged group accounts for a whopping 62%.  And the US is waking up to the fact that their engagement level is at a 11-year low of 30%.

Our approach is wrong 

It is not just the 2024 number we need to be concerned about – rather, the global numbers of the last 15 years. When analysing the trend, the engaged category has gone up and disgruntled category has come down. Which is a good thing. However, the percentage of fence-sitters has stayed more-or-less the same since we started measuring it back in 2009.

I agree that reducing the ‘noise’ of the disgruntled group is advantageous, but at what cost? Your return on the investment of your personal energy – the bang for your buck – Is not great. This is where we go wrong. We’ve been trying to disarm the rebellion group. It’s a bit like giving too much attention to your child to calm them down, when throwing a tantrum. Sometimes, leaving them alone for a few minutes works wonders. The impact of the fence-sitters on the global economy is a staggering US$ 8.8 trillion or 9% of the global GDP.

What to do about it? 

Having worked across multiple countries over the last 25 years, I know for a fact that the fence-sitting employees are only seemingly disengaged. While you might think that they only turn up in body, leaving their brains behind, I’ve found that they are waiting to be discovered and motivated. Turning around workplace disengagement and tapping into latent capacity to deploy more productivity initiatives is easier than you think. Here’s 5 ways to get the fence-sitters onboard:

1. Initiatives that matter: Solve frustrations that matter to employees and add value to the business. Often, we prioritise issues based on business profitability only.  Like politicians targeting marginal seats, listen to what matters to the employees.  However, do it with integrity and authenticity – unlike what some politicians do. Get your best diligent workers to lead these initiatives.
2. Involvement that counts: Strategically involve a few seemingly disengaged individuals in these initiatives to get them excited by osmosis. Ensure the entire team is involved – don’t let the disengaged be passive team members.
3. Progress that propels: Help fast track results and over deliver expectations. Help the team deliver a few quick wins. Create a regular cadence to help teams work their initiatives.  Progress is infectious.
4. Positivity that excites: Get the teams to share their results at every opportunity you get – townhall meetings, newsletters, intranet etc. A rising tide lifts all boats and that’s exactly what you are trying to do by creating a culture that exudes positivity and excitement.
5. A culture that engages: repeating the above structure each quarter, will shift workplace culture for the better.  Some of the fence sitters should be changing camps to become engaged.  Now you have a growing number of engaged individuals to deploy more initiatives.

The key to unlocking employee disengagement is involvement. If you repeat the above cycle each quarter, within a year you’ll notice that the ship is turning faster than you expected. With the fence-sitters starting to become believers, teams will start feeling happier, more productive, better engaged and running on all six cylinders.

Written by Ishan Galapathy.

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