The Cost of Employee Disengagement

In a previous blog, we shared this statistic from Forbes: 8.8 trillion is the true cost of employee disengagement around the world.

This number isn’t random, and it takes into account number of factors, both direct and indirect.

Direct Costs of Disenagement:

Absenteeism
Turnover (recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new employees)
Overtime (for when an employee doesn’t show up)
Payouts for things like Paid Overtime when the employee leaves.
Loss of repeat customers.
A decrease in productivity.

Indirect Costs of Employee Disengagement:

More errors committed.
Presenteeism
Loss of opportunities
The domino effect of disengaged employees on their coworkers.

What is the meaning of employee disengagement?

According to Harvard, “Disengaged employees tend to not feel excited about their job or experience joy at the workplace. They lack motivation and inspiration and while they may fulfill their job tasks properly, they don’t put in any extra effort to help the organization reach its goals.”

Moreover, there might be actively disengaged employees who are disruptors. They complain, undermine their managers and coworkers, and might even try to disrupt organization operations.

Employees don’t live in silos or bubbles of discontent. Beware of the ripple effect of the disengaged. It can be contagious!

What are the main causes of employee disengagement?

To improve workplace culture, start by identifying the main causes of disengagement. Use employee engagement surveys to uncover both motivators and demotivators, as well as pockets of discontent.

While every organization is unique, many common disengagement factors are shared across sectors:

Poor leadership. Good leadership is the core of employee engagement.
Lack of recognition
Lack of work-life balance
Poor organization communication
Excessive work and burnout
A toxic workplace environment
Lack of development and growth opportunities
Lack of autonomy
Lack of accountability

How can you identify employee disengagement?

Beware of the disengaged. Managers have to be adept at not only listening to their employees but also getting a pulse of their work teams and departments. Employee disengagement is considered the silent killer of organization success. Tune in and watch out for these telltale signs:

An increase in absenteeism and sick days. (Meet with HR and get the data!)
A decrease in productivity
A decrease in quality of work - missed deadlines. Withdrawl from workplace conversations, activities, and non-work related events. Beware of silence.
An increase in break times (going to the snack room, getting a coffee, going for a smoke etc.).
Coming late to work, to meetings, showing general apathy.
Exhaustion and burnout
Negativity and cynicism

Though some of these things might be difficult to identify at first, it’s important to watch for changes in employees and how the workplace feels. The sooner you identify disengaged employees, the quicker you and your organization leaders can act to turn things around.

How Do You Engage a Disengaged Employee?

You can’t do this by throwing new policies out there and hoping one sticks. Employee engagement needs to be an organization strategy. Start by conducting an employee engagement survey.

A survey can help identify factors that motivate and demotivate your employees, not only iorganization-wide, but also within different departments, branches, and geographical areas.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Anytime is a great time to ask for employee feedback and act on it.

The Cost of Employee Disengagement

Direct Costs of Disenagement:

Indirect Costs of Employee Disengagement:

What is the meaning of employee disengagement?

What are the main causes of employee disengagement?

How can you identify employee disengagement?

How Do You Engage a Disengaged Employee?

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