How Can You Prevent
Poor Employee Engagement Domino Effect

Employee Disengagement Can Be Contagious

If you think that you shouldn't keep records of employee engagement, think again. Just one disengaged employee may affect the sense of belonging and dedication across teams.

Employees with low morale don’t like their jobs and are mostly disinterested in self-development or overall company success. Managing disengaged employees can be challenging because you need to invest more time in training and mentoring them without knowing whether this additional effort will ever pay off.

Also, this continuous negative attitude and unwillingness to commit to the team efforts may irritate other team members, making effective collaboration difficult. All this can easily lead to lower productivity and the loss of profit.

Higher Turnover Rates

A higher turnover rate comes as an inevitable consequence of employee disengagement. In addition, it can be devastating to the productivity and morale of remaining employees, causing the skill gap that you can bridge only by hiring new staff.

And recruiting and hiring new employees is a costly process that you want to avoid in times of crisis.

In the U.S., the cost of replacing an employee can amount to $30,000, where $25,000 would be attributed to the loss of efficiency. And you’d spend an additional $5,000 on job posting, advertising, and recruiting skilled employees.

So, instead of paying the high cost, metaphorically and literary, of rapidly losing employees due to disengagement, try to get to the core of the problem and identify the reasons for employees' low motivation to work. Then, do your best to find effective solutions that will increase employee engagement and stop this domino effect that can severely affect your business’ profitability.

Here’s what you can do to understand and tackle poor employee engagement, helping your employees overcome this issue and fulfill their potential.

Identify the Causes of Lower Engagement

To find out the range of the problem you are battling, you need to find out what causes your employees to be less engaged in their work. Therefore, try to conduct open one-on-one conversations with employees, and listen carefully to what they have to say without being judgmental or defensive.

You can also conduct anonymous employee surveys to better understand their reasons for disengagement. These surveys should focus on questions about leadership, opportunities for professional growth, company values, and employees’ views of interpersonal relationships.

Then host team meetings to analyze the survey results and address the most frequently mentioned issues.

You can also track employees' performance and analyze productivity data collected via software for employee monitoring to get a clearer picture of how long employees have been struggling with low engagement.

When you pair this data-based insight into their performance with the survey results you can identify burning engagement issues and start working on effective solutions immediately.

Make Sure to Follow Through

Never conduct employee engagement surveys if you don’t mean to act upon the results and battle low engagement. By not acting upon findings, you may further harm your company culture and affect the overall business success and reputation.

This means that you need to have an actionable plan devised to tackle the burning employee disengagement issues. You can start by offering appropriate support to employees who may be experiencing burnout. Or you can discuss potential professional development opportunities with those who may be disengaged because they struggle with specific tasks and projects.

By making these steps, you will show your employees that you take their concerns seriously and that you are ready to offer effective solutions after assessing their feedback and identifying critical engagement issues.

Make a Clear Plan and Keep Track of Your Progress

Increasing employee engagement isn’t a one-time task. It’s a continuous process that demands detailed planning and persistence. Here are several steps you can take to make sure you are on the right track when it comes to planning the strategy for increased employee engagement.

Senior leadership has to be in sync with the plan and meet regularly to discuss its progress.
Set specific goals and assign clear expectations and responsibilities for each of them. You can use apps for employee computer monitoring to track progress and measure success.
Rewards for exceptional performance and effort will get you far when it comes to boosting employee engagement.
Remember, enhancing employee engagement is an ongoing process that will require your time, attention, and energy. So, look at it as an opportunity to deepen communication and trustworthy relationships with your employees.

Final Words

Employee engagement can make or break your team's effectiveness and overall business. The secret to boosting motivation and employee performance is optimizing business processes, using advanced solutions, and creating trustworthy relationships with your employees. Besides fostering open and honest communication, following through with your plans for improvement will enhance your culture and help your employees break the vicious cycle of disengagement.

About the Author

Dijana Milunovic is a Content Writer at Insightful. She enjoys writing about employee productivity and engagement, company culture, and leadership.

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How Can You Prevent Poor Employee Engagement Domino Effect