more symptoms of disengagement

JudyPruittSeptember24,2010 Page1of3

blog_01_disengagement_symptoms_cont'd.docx

MoreSymptomsofDisengagementDo you have employees that are disillusioned with their jobs, unwilling or afraid to alert senior management of work delays or problems, have a 9-to-5 attitude, and are unwilling to participate in company events? If so, your employees could be suffering from disengagement, which is a serious problem that is costing the U.S. economy $350 billion yearly in high turnover rates, the high cost of replacing the disengaged employee, and the drain on company resources. Disengagement is a rapidly growing problem in business that needs to be eliminated. Disengagement begins with discontent, which often leads to lack of self-motivation and decreased productivity, and usually ends with complete disengagement leading to the employee either quitting his or her job or being fired. This can be very costly to a business. Learning to recognize the many symptoms of disengagement is vital since it is really easy to ignore a co-worker’s mood and to assume that he or she is just having a bad day. Having bad days are perfectly normal unless those bad days tend to happen every day. The following are some of the faces of disengagement. EmployeeDiscontentandDisillusionmentIt is not uncommon these days for an employee to feel discontent and disillusioned in his or her job, which is the most common reason for an employee to quit or get fired. After all, we spend most of our waking time at work so we want to enjoy our duties or feel we are doing something important with our time. In some cases, people will attempt to fake enjoying their jobs, but this is very difficult to do for long periods of time and will eventually lead to employee disengagement. Employee discontent and disillusionment at work can lead to an employee feeling that his or her potential is being wasted, which will ultimately lead to decreased self-motivation and productivity.

Decreasedself‐motivationandproductivityWhen an employee feels like a worker drone that has no opportunity for growth and development and is unable to learn new skills, he or she may lose the self-motivation required to be productive and can lead to disengagement. With lack of motivation, an employee may develop a 9-to-5 attitude and not put in any extra time or effort into his job and might not attend company events thereby effectively isolating himself from co-workers. Disengagement is not uncommon in today’s workforce and leads to high turnover rates, which is very costly to companies. As people become disillusioned with their jobs, they may spend more time surfing the internet, chatting with others online, or playing games to ease the their



perceived torture of being at work. This can lead to frustration, anger, and increased complaining from employees, which might ultimately lead to complete disengagement.

AngerandincreasedcomplainingIntense and prolonged anger is detrimental to the employee’s health and his ability to work efficiently. The angry, frustrated worker is likely to disrupt other employees and reduce their ability to effectively produce quality work. The angry, discontented employee is likely to mistrust his supervisors will therefore complain heavily to any co-worker who will listen. Over time, this constant complaining will increase friction with coworkers, damage morale in the office, can permanently damage relationships with co-workers, and may lead to complete disengagement. High productivity levels at work cannot be achieved with intense anger, resentment, and frustration permeating the office environment.

MistrustinmanagementIt is very common for a disgruntled employee to mistrust his managers, which can cause disturbances and disruptions in the workplace before he either quits or gets fired. The employee may feel that the manager does not keep his word, give proper credit to the employee, or that the manager continually invades the employee’s privacy. In today’s technologically driven society, people tend to feel that managers have little empathy for their problems or do not care about the needs of others. It doesn’t help that technological advances have blurred the line between work time and home time, which can cause an employee to feel disconnected from their families. This can also lead to complete disengagement.



Beware of the corporation killer known as employee disengagement! Be vigilant in watching for signs of disengagement creeping into your workplace to disillusion your employees and reduce their productivity. We need to all work together to combat and wipe out this fast-growing epidemic and to keep our work families satisfied and engaged. UpcomingArticle–“Employeeengagement–Youcan’tdoitalone” Claire Sookman is a professional speaker and trainer on Virtual Teams. Virtual Team Builders specializes in enabling global teams. To discover your teams top three challenges and receive a complementary needs assessment for your team email us at [email protected] or call us at 1.866.497.7749.

Virtual Team Builders - Engaging People for Results Helping geographically-dispersed teams reach their maximum potential

Phone: 416.398.5160 Canada and U.S.: 866.497.7749

Fax: 416.398.3598 Email: [email protected]

more symptoms of disengagement

Business