Imagine boarding a Boeing 707 in Los Angeles with your final destination being Chicago, when midway into your flight, somewhere over Colorado, you hear music that sounds like a live band coming from the cockpit. You get up from your seat and walk toward the front of the plane to get a better perspective. You open the cockpit door only to find the captain engaging his trumpet skills with a jazz ensemble, when he should have been engaged in flying the plane. Perhaps you remember this absurd scene that’s featured in the 1980, slapstick motion picture, “Airplane”.
While this scene depicting employee disengagement brings side-splitting laughter, employee disengagement is no laughing matter says the Gallup organization. In their recent “State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights For U.S. Business Leaders”, the Gallup folks reveal some startling findings. Specifically that 70% of American workers are not engaged in their work. More alarming are results indicating 18% are actively disengaged in their work. I don’t know about you, but I sure hope the individual sitting in the captain’s seat of the next commercial aircraft I board is one of the 30% who’s engaged, rather than one of the 70% who is not.
I’ve attached a link at the end of this post that will guide you to Gallup’s site, where you can download a complimentary copy of this report. This is a must read for all business owners, CEOs, HR professionals and anyone who manages people.
The definition for the 3 categories of employee engagement are as follows:
- Engaged employees (30%) work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.
- Not Engaged employees (52%) are essentially “checked out.” They’re sleepwalking through their workday, putting time — but not energy or passion — into their work.
- Actively Disengaged employees (18%) aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.
Engaged employees have fewer accidents and fewer quality defects. They are healthier and are responsible for most of the innovative ideas and acquisition of new clients and customers. The less engaged are costing employers an estimated $450-$550 billion more a year than their engaged counterparts. The actively disengaged are saboteurs.
These statistics could be a bit discouraging, but before you despair you should know that this report contains tactical ideas that your organization can replicate. It reveals what the “best do differently”. Gallup says, “When organizations successfully engage their customers and their employees, they experience a 240% boost in performance-related business outcomes compared with an organization with neither engaged employees nor engaged customers”. The winners of the 2013 Gallup Great Workplace Award have an average of 63% of engaged employees and boast nine engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee — a ratio that is more than five times the national average.
Worth the 68 page read!
To receive a copy of the State of the American Workplace Report click here: 70% of U.S. Workers Are Not Engaged at Work
Bill Edmonds is an Executive Coach and Consultant who works with leaders to help them reach their full potential by specializing in areas of organizational and personal development. He spent 24 years in leadership with Merrill Lynch until his retirement in 2014, where he lead a $100+ million per year revenue business unit as a Director with the firm.
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