Disengaged employees have a major negative impact on your company’s performance and morale. When subtle behaviors go unnoticed, they turn into bigger problems. It’s important for managers, supervisors and leaders to recognize and understand disengaged employee behaviors to address them early.
Learn about the behaviors that indicate employees are disengaged, and tips to re-engage your workforce.
What are disengaged employees?
Disengaged employees are team members who aren’t interested in their work, company goals or the well-being of their colleagues because they feel disconnected. They don’t take pride in their performance, don’t contribute to the organization and bring morale down across the company. Anyone can have a bad day, but disengagement is a chronic, recurring issue over a longer period.
Employees can become disengaged for many reasons, including chronic stress, burnout or personal reasons. Company culture and work environment also impact employee engagement. Employees who are overworked, underutilized or don’t trust their leaders often become resentful of their workplaces, which contributes to disengagement.
Disengagement can show up as boredom, resentment or active hostility. It’s also contagious as disengaged employees crush morale for their colleagues. Regardless of why an employee is disengaged, their negative attitude, absenteeism and lack of motivation bleed across teams and departments to affect performance, productivity and company culture.
11 disengaged employee behaviors to keep an eye out for
Several behaviors indicate an employee is disengaged or on their way to becoming disengaged. Spotting these signs of employee disengagement early helps you know when to intervene and offer support.
1. Submitting lower-quality work
Everyone has an off day from time to time. But if an employee starts consistently submitting lower-quality work, this is a sign they may be disengaged, especially if they had a good track record of high performance previously. Often, other employees will have to pick up the slack, either by having to check a disengaged employee’s work or redoing it entirely.
Of course, if multiple employees are having trouble with work quality, this may be a sign that the department needs better training or clearer goals. Open and transparent communication is key in understanding if the issue is disengagement or something else.
2. Missing or extending deadlines
Time management skills are important for any employee, and good project management tools and managerial support are crucial for ensuring teams finish tasks on time. If an employee regularly misses or extends deadlines in an otherwise well-performing team, they’re likely disengaged. Missed deadlines snowball quickly to disrupt work for other colleagues, teams and departments.
Sometimes busy organizations put unrealistic expectations on their employees’ shoulders, including assigning too much work or not giving employees enough time to complete their work. It’s important to determine if a missed deadline is a sign of a single employee’s disengagement or tells a bigger story about workload balance and expectation management for the broader team.
3. Withdrawal from others
Disengaged employees often act like they want nothing to do with their company, including the people they work with. They’re slower to respond to work questions from colleagues and decline invitations to regular social interactions. They may also withdraw from obligations and hobbies as stress from work overtakes their personal lives.
Some people are more private or reserved than others, and lack of involvement in company social activities doesn’t always indicate disengagement. But if a previously engaged employee stops participating in company activities, it’s a good idea to step in and find out why.
4. Taking more frequent breaks
If you notice an employee is frequently away from their desk at unexpected times, this may be a sign they’re disengaged. Disengaged employees may also engage in quiet quitting — they show up to the office but are intentionally unproductive.
Breaks are important for recharging and increasing productivity, but disengaged employees tend to take more breaks than others. They also take breaks at the expense of their work, either by not completing tasks on time or submitting lower-quality work.
5. Taking time off without notice
A sure sign of disengagement is absenteeism — when an employee starts calling out sick or taking time off without warning. These may be genuine sick days, as stress can cause serious physical symptoms. But many disengaged employees simply don’t show up to their scheduled shifts without calling ahead.
Although employees are entitled to time off, unscheduled absences are disruptive and put pressure on other team members, especially when they’re frequent. Engaged employees request time off in advance to allow their departments to plan ahead.
6. Less participation in meetings
Highly engaged employees actively participate in meetings, offering ideas and brainstorming with their colleagues. In contrast, a disengaged employee is noticeably different. They don’t pay attention and aren’t prepared when someone asks for input. This is especially apparent during video conferences or virtual meetings when distractions like multitasking or checking personal devices is easier to hide. Not everyone is comfortable having their camera on during every virtual meeting, but engaged employees still respond to questions or interact even if their cameras are off.
7. Negative attitude towards work and the company
Employees should be interested in improving their organization and provide constructive feedback about changing policies or processes when it impacts their work. The key word here is “constructive.” Disengaged employees often have nothing positive to say about the work they do or the company as a whole. This negative attitude may not be verbal — a disengaged employee may show physical negativity through body language such as sighing, shrugging or crossing their arms defensively. Some actively disengaged employees openly complain about tasks, colleagues or the company.
8. Ignoring work policies
Work policies are in place to protect the company, keep employees accountable and set expectations. Working hours, acceptable use of company equipment and time or security policies are important for everyone to know and follow. Disengaged employees may ignore these policies, either out of carelessness or even out of spite.
Ignoring work policies can lead to minor inconveniences, such as unreliability because someone clocks in late or leaves early, or major issues such as customer privacy or cyber security breaches.
9. Lack of interest in development
Engaged employees are committed to developing skills to improve performance and advance careers. Unengaged employees won’t raise their hands for new development opportunities. They also don’t participate actively in required training — or ignore it altogether.
10. Being generally unavailable
Disengaged employees often avoid their work responsibilities and may not be available, even when they’re supposed to be. They may also decline meetings, training sessions or social events without any clear professional reason. If an employee doesn’t respond promptly to messages from colleagues or puts in the bare minimum at work, it impacts the entire department.
11. Looking for another job
You may not see it with your own eyes, but disengaged employees often look for another job. If they’re actively disengaged, they may scour job boards openly while at work. Another hint is heightened activity on LinkedIn or networking sites.
Tips to re-engage disengaged employees
While you can’t control personal issues, there are a few ways to improve engagement among employees. Follow these guidelines to motivate disengaged employees:
1. Identify the cause of disengagement
Knowing what causes disengagement is the first step in fixing the problem. Are employee workloads too heavy? Are expectations or goals unrealistic? Are individuals going through personal stress at home? Company-wide issues such as uneasiness after layoffs or restructuring, new policies around schedules or benefits or changes to work systems or technology also lead to disengagement. Providing mental health and wellness benefits such as an employee assistance program (EAP) is a good way to address individual stressors. If you notice high levels of disengagement throughout your organization, it’s a good indication the problem lies beyond a single individual and it’s time to get to work fixing company culture.
2. Schedule one-on-one meetings with disengaged employees
It’s important to discuss what’s going on with workers who are showing signs of disengagement. Managers or supervisors should have private conversations with disengaged employees to identify the cause. Discuss how disengagement affects the team and what steps both the company and the employee can do to get back on track.
3. Listen and follow up on employee feedback
Disengagement is often the result of employees feeling unheard or unvalued in a company. You can fix this by providing ample opportunities for employees to provide feedback — and then act on suggestions. Employee engagement surveys are a popular, anonymous way to gather ideas from employees on how to improve engagement.
Identify disengaged employee behaviors with ActivTrak
Recognizing and addressing disengagement is essential for maintaining a productive workforce. While strategies focused on communication, recognition and fostering a positive environment are good ways to tackle disengagement, many managers don’t see the signs of disengagement until it’s too late.
Monitor unspoken signs of employee disengagement with ActivTrak’s employee engagement solution. Improve engagement and experience with personalized support built from data rather than guesswork. Address disengagement by spotting patterns early and understanding the impact of mitigation strategies. Balance workloads to prevent overwork and reassign underworked employees to more challenging, fulfilling tasks. Contact our sales team today to get started.
