Why people are not engaged at work and what you can do about it

Much of how we see our success as individuals is tied to our everyday experiences of our work. On a daily basis, we make judgments about how important our work is, and how much effort we will put in to it. We decide whether we like the people we work with and whether our bosses are competent.

If people don’t feel their work is valued, if they don’t feel pride or happiness in their work, then they will disengage. Gallup’s analytics show that less than a third of the workforce is engaged. About one quarter are actively disengaged. Only 14% of Australian and New Zealand employees show up to work each day excited about their work.

The main reasons why people are not engaged are:

• Lack of feedback about their progress;
• Too much emphasis on setbacks, failures and bad news;
• Unclear goals, conflicting demands and insufficient resources;
• Little autonomy or opportunity to contribute ideas; and
• Lack of encouragement.

Even super smart people and top performers don’t engage as much as they could if they don’t have the support of their leaders. Employee satisfaction and perceptions of their organisations, their leaders and their colleagues matter. When people are motivated and engaged they are more productive and have a more positive outlook. Read more

Karen Morley - SmartCompany - 26 September 2018