Employee disengagement can strike at any time. Like how employee engagement is boosted by several outside variables, the same goes for disengagement too.
Some of the things that can contribute to disengagement are toxic workplace cultures, bad managers, personal problems, overwhelming workload, burnout etc. While the causes can be many, the end result of disengagement only hurts an organization and its talent.
With that in mind, here are a few signs that can help managers figure out if employees are engaged or disengaged and then take the necessary action to tackle the problem.
The employee is burned out
Burnout occurs when employees are juggling too many things at one go, and eventually, it all becomes too much for them to handle. Burnout can be caused by a variety of reasons, but one of the most common reasons is a punishing workload. It is not possible for any employee to sustain a heavy workload for a long length of time. Eventually, they are going to feel sapped of energy and may either completely pull back or even leave the job altogether. Are there employees on your team who frequently work long hours and seem to be busy all the time? Do they look physically exhausted and seem tired most of the time? If so, they are at great risk of becoming disengaged.
Stops participating in meetings
When employees who were vocal contributors before become silent, it is important for managers to take note, especially if this is a trend that you continue to observe elsewhere.
Arrives late and leaves early
This is one of the biggest indicators of employee disengagement. Because this shows that employees want to spend as little time as possible at work. Normally, managers shouldn’t rigidly police an employee’s timings unless it is a part of the organization’s culture, the job is sensitive and time-bound, or the employee has a history of being chronically late or often leaves early.
Takes frequent breaks
Frequent breaks that disrupt work are also something to be aware of. If you find the employee frequently on the phone or if you find them away from their desk for long periods of time or even if you see them idling away elsewhere, this could mean that they are feeling really disconnected from work.
Consistently fails to meet deadlines
An inability to meet deadlines constantly indicates that an employee is unable to cope with the workload or has some issues with time management. But when an employee who previously always delivered begins to fall behind on deadlines, managers should pay attention.
Resistant to change
In an organization, the more it grows, the more there is a need for employees to adapt and grow as well. However, when employees are disengaged, they will not be motivated to learn new skills or even adopt new behaviors. When new initiatives are rolled out, disengaged employees will either fail to adopt them, complain about being asked to adopt them or even flat out refuse to adopt them.
Rude and curt to others all the time
When someone is stressed, it is normal for them to be grumpy or curt (and even then, most employees display a lot of self-restraint at wor). However, sustained rudeness or curtness to polite overtures or requests from colleagues or managers indicates that a larger problem is at play. When an employee is perpetually rude, it is safe to assume that they are feeling discontent about their job or the organization etc.
Avoids co-workers
When an employee begins avoiding colleagues and refuses to join them for lunch or any team events, this could be a sign that they are slowly disconnecting themselves from the organization. Some employees are naturally quiet and reserved them and there shouldn’t be a problem with that. However, when a normally cheerful and amiable employee stops socializing, or even a normally personable employee stops socializing, it’s time for managers to take notice. Employee disengagement can even manifest in the form of employees constantly avoiding meetings with their managers.
Does only the bare minimum
When an employee who used to go above and beyond the call of duty begins to only do the bare minimum, it might be something that is worth looking into. If an employee is scaling back the amount of effort they are putting in, then they are probably thinking along the lines of their effort not being appreciated and therefore scaling back their investment.
Spends a lot of time doing other stuff at work
In some cases, employees don’t have to be away from their desks to show that they are not working. They can be at their desks and still do everything other than work. By idling away on social media, indulging in online shopping or other extraneous activity, employees can signal that they are feeling dissatisfied.
Spotting all these signs is fine and dandy, but it is the action that managers take after this that will truly make a difference.
Upon realizing that an employee is disengaged, it is important to sit down and have an intensive chat with them. This informal chat can help you find out why they are struggling, or what is affecting them and preventing them from engaging fully. You might find that in some cases, they might be going through some personal struggles. Or maybe they’ve recently taken on a new position/promotion and are not able to cope with their new workload.
Approach this conversation from a non-judgemental frame of mind. Because you need to be able to understand why an employee is feeling dissatisfied and how it is impacting their work or in some cases, their team’s work.
In many cases, it is also worth looking inward to see if there’s some way you could have failed your employee. Introspection should go both ways, because it’s only when both manager and employee look inward (and by extension get to the root of the problem) can employee disengagement be solved.