Convinced your organization is safe from disengagement? Think again. Even the top workplaces suffer from periods of low engagement. And based on Gallup’s latest findings, less than a quarter of employees are fully engaged at work. More than 60% are not engaged and 15% are actively disengaged.
The problem is, signs of disengagement are often difficult to detect.
In this article, we’ll explore the most common signs of employee disengagement — including ones that often fly under the radar — along with practical strategies for addressing and preventing it.
What is employee disengagement?
Employee disengagement refers to the state in which employees feel disconnected from the organization. It ranges from general discontent, defined by apathy and a lack of enthusiasm, to active disengagement, when employees mentally check out and start to negatively impact others. Disengaged employees feel unfulfilled and bored at work. At the most advanced stages, they become resentful of (and even hostile toward) employers.
While highly engaged employees contribute positively to company success, actively disengaged employees do the opposite. They have a negative attitude toward their work that worsens over time and affects team members.
Reasons employees become disengaged
Employees become disengaged for different reasons. Common causes include:
- Burnout: Employees who are continually overworked gradually burn out and start to resent leadership.
- Idle time: On the other hand, people who don’t have enough work lose motivation and become less engaged.
- Lack of recognition: Employees who are never shown appreciation feel leadership doesn’t care about their contributions.
- Limited training: People who don't receive proper training are less likely to experience job satisfaction.
- Poor communication: Improper role alignment, miscommunicated goals and unclear expectations all contribute to disengagement.
While some causes are beyond your control, such as personal issues that bleed into the work day, most instances of disengagement start at work. Noncompetitive pay, limited or confusing feedback and a lack of challenging assignments all impact how people feel about their jobs.
6 signs of employee disengagement
The sooner you learn to spot the signs of disengagement, the better positioned you’ll be to respond. While the following list isn’t exhaustive, it covers the most common signs to watch for.
1. Decreased productivity and performance
The earliest indicator of disengagement is decreased productivity. Studies show disengaged workers have 49% more accidents and cause 60% more errors. They miss deadlines, make careless mistakes and fail to meet expectations. And unfortunately, those declines don’t just impact the quality of work. They also spread to team members and the organization at large. Companies with low employee engagement scores experience 16% lower profitability and 37% less job growth.
What to do: Regularly monitoring productivity helps reveal dips early, while there’s still plenty of time to respond.
2. Increased absenteeism and tardiness
In the same study mentioned above, researchers uncovered another important sign: Disengaged employees have 37% higher absenteeism than their engaged counterparts. They arrive late, leave early, take frequent breaks and call in sick. And the more disengaged they become, the longer and more frequent the absences.
What to do: Tracking attendance records or hours worked helps spot this behavior so you can intervene.
3. Lack of initiative and creativity
Another sure sign of disengagement? A lack of enthusiasm. While harder to spot, this one is especially important to watch for in high performers. If a previously engaged employee stops taking initiative, it’s time to find out why. Team members who suddenly stop offering new ideas and stay quiet in team meetings are a clear sign of disengagement.
What to do: Talking to the employee about what motivates them can help you figure out how to spark renewed interest in their work. It may involve assigning them to a project that excites the disengaged employee, or making changes to rewards like bonuses or promotion paths so the employee feels like they’re working towards something.
4. Negative attitudes and low morale
When employees feel disconnected from their work, low morale is bound to follow. Disengaged employees become cynical, complain frequently and may even show disdain toward coworkers.
What to do: Soliciting feedback, conducting surveys and creating open-door policies all allow you to identify negativity before it spreads. If you notice an employee with a negative attitude, talk about their concerns in a one-on-one meeting as soon as possible.
5. Little interest in learning
The more disengaged someone is, the less likely they are to build new skills or advance their career. They also collaborate less with peers and may be less willing to share their knowledge when called upon.
What to do: Though more difficult to monitor and measure, observing day-to-day interactions is a great way to watch for this sign of disengagement. You could also ask employees for their observations about peers’ work and development habits in syncs.
6. Disregard for company policies
Actively disengaged employees don’t just ignore your guidelines. They blatantly disregard them. Work hours, locations and unsanctioned apps are all up for grabs among disengaged employees who prioritize their own interests over company policies.
What to do: Location insights, security alerts and other workforce analytics dashboards make it easy to spot these indicators.
Strategies for re-engaging disengaged employees
As soon as you see signs of disengagement among your employees, it’s time to implement strategies to re-engage them. Here are several ways to do just that.
1. Foster a (truly) positive work environment
Creating a positive company culture is paramount to preventing employee disengagement, and the bulk of responsibility falls to managers. For every two employees, one has quit a job at some point to escape a bad boss and improve their quality of life. But create a healthy team environment, and the opposite happens. Fixing unbalanced workloads, emphasizing transparent communication, and encouraging creativity all help build a happy, engaged culture.
2. Support professional development
Did you know 94% of workers would stay longer at a company that invests in helping them learn? The reason is simple: Professional development provides more opportunities to engage with the organization and advance careers. This is one of the easiest, most effective ways to re-engage dissatisfied employees. It helps people thrive in their roles and shows you value their long-term success. Plus, the additional skills benefit your organization.
3. Regularly recognize contributions
Showing appreciation is one of the most overlooked antidotes to disengagement. Which is a shame, since it’s also one of the most effective. An astounding eight in ten employees say they’d be more productive if they were recognized more frequently. Praising employees for their contributions — even small ones — creates a sense of belonging. Whether you implement a formal employee recognition program or provide positive feedback on your own, the key is consistency. The more often people receive praise, the more satisfied and engaged they become.
4. Ask for feedback — and act on it
Sometimes, all someone needs is a chance to feel seen and heard. For this reason, open communication channels are crucial for preventing employee disengagement. Whether you conduct formal surveys or meet with employees one-on-one, invite people to vocalize concerns without fear of retribution. More importantly, make it clear you take feedback seriously. Your people need to know you care, and putting their suggestions to work is the best way to show it.
5. Actively support well-being
Did you know 57% of workers who are unsatisfied with their companies’ mental health and well-being support plan to look for new jobs? Ouch. Clearly, employee well-being and engagement go hand-in-hand. But it requires more than basic wellness programs and access to resources. Encouraging healthy work-life balance is also crucial for re-engaging disengaged employees. Help employees set clear boundaries between work and personal life by offering flexible work arrangements and watching for signs of burnout.
Spot and address employee disengagement with ActivTrak
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Plus, there’s no risk to try — simply sign up for a free account to get started today. And when you’re ready, schedule a demo to discover more ways to improve engagement by using your own workforce data.
