7 Ways You Can Spot a Disengaged Employee

7 Ways You Can Spot a Disengaged Employee https://csuiteold.c-suitenetwork.com/advisors/wp-content/themes/csadvisore/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg 150 150 Jennifer Ledet Jennifer Ledet https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/517e62411acf7b10f35b4dc1d70142df?s=96&d=mm&r=g May 30, 2018 May 30, 2018

May 30, 2018

Have you seen them? The workplace zombies? The employees slumped over at their desk just merely getting by thanks to a fourth cup of cappuccino? I’m talking about the walking dead – also known as disengaged employees.

You have probably seen them, but just sort of ignored them. The Gallup Organization says that worldwide, disengaged employees out-number engaged employees by nearly 2 – 1. Even worse, 24% of workers worldwide are “actively disengaged,” which means that they’re unhappy, unproductive, and unlikely to ever bring a ray of sunshine to their co-workers. Actually, they’re most likely going to share their negativity with the rest of the team like a really nasty cold virus.

Employee disengagement is a silent killer of productivity, performance, and thus, profitability.

As an executive leader, NOT seeing these disengaged team members right in front of your face is a huge issue. After all, you can’t address a problem if you don’t even realize it exists. Don’t feel bad – sometimes we’re just too close to the problem. To help you spot the perhaps not-so-obvious, here are

7 Ways You Can Spot a Disengaged Employee:

1. Lack of teamwork. Disengaged employees may resist activities that require collaboration and cooperating with others. Often, they become a “lone wolf,” and interact with team members as little as possible, skipping out on team meetings and project strategy sessions.

2. Declining quality/quantity of work. This is especially an issue when the employee formerly produced high-quality work. The important thing is to notice that his work output has changed for the worst.

3. Complaining. Pay particular attention to negative comments about her work, supervisors, leadership, and the organization as a whole.

4. Apathetic attitude. Unhappy employees have an “I don’t give a hoot” attitude. They have no ownership in team/organization productivity and success.

5. Symptoms of deeper issues, such as depression or psychological problems. These might include unprofessional appearance, erratic mood swings, evidence of possible substance abuse, increased workplace injuries/safety violations, disconnecting from team members and not participating in team meetings and gatherings.

6. Absenteeism/tardiness. Employees who have checked out often do just that. They come into work late and leave early. They call in sick, take all of their vacation/personal days early in the year, and take excessive/long breaks and lunches.

7. Blaming. You know you have a problem when you hear a formerly engaged employee undermining, criticizing, or condemning the work of team members and peers.

These symptoms may seem totally obvious reading them here, but what’s interesting about employee disengagement is that often the immediate supervisor is the last to know when he’s got a raging case of it right in front of him. Maybe it’s because it’s tough to see when you’re so close to the situation. Or maybe you need to have a “sixth sense” to pick up on these symptoms.

Regardless, here are three things you can do now, today, to spot and hopefully rescue any team member who has one foot on a banana peel and the other in the metaphorical grave:

Ask open-ended questions, such as “How are things going, Andrew?” or “What do you think about these changes, Lynn?”
Shut your trap and listen! Remember that the word ‘listen’ spells ‘silent’ when scrambled.
Open your eyes and observe others. What kind of body language are they using? Is it congruent with what they’re saying? Yogi Berra famously quipped, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”

The sooner you act, the more likely you’ll be successful in bringing your “dead” employee back to life. Stay tuned here as I share tips and strategies for getting and keeping your team members engaged and alive.

YOUR TURN:

How are you able to spot employee disengagement?
How have you addressed the issue of the walking dead?
What tips do you have for others who struggle with engaging team members?
Please leave a comment on my blog below and share your insights with the community.

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