A recent survey by the Gallup organization found that just 30 percent of American workers are “actively engaged.”
The remaining 70 percent are divided into two groups: 20 percent are “actively disengaged” and trying to undermine management; and 50 percent are just plain disengaged.
Imagine what the workplace would be like if we could somehow get just half of the disengaged workers to be committed to what they were doing all day. The productivity increase alone would accelerate our businesses — and our economy — into escape velocity, limited only by our imaginations.
The Gallup report on its survey, “State of the American Workplace,” points out the bottom line implications for this situation and describes the successful and profitable efforts of some companies in turning the workplace environment around.
Changing the level of engagement of workers requires management to address two separate groups with separate problems. The bottom 20 percent, the “actively disengaged” workers, are negative influences who will subvert everything management attempts to do in the workplace.
They create a poisonous atmosphere because their attitude has a suffocating effect on other workers. If management doesn’t address the problem these people present, other workers will eventually be demoralized — forced to assume that management is totally clueless, incompetent, or doesn’t care…and maybe all three.
In contrast, most of the 50 percent of workers who are just plain disengaged are more likely guilty of what economist Thorstein Veblen called, “industrial sabotage” — the conscious withholding of productivity. It is difficult to measure this directly, partly because it is often indistinguishable from a generalized preference for idleness.
Veblen provided that definition nearly a century ago, when America was a growing manufacturing giant. Today’s workplace is very different and industrial sabotage most often takes the form of Internet games, social media browsing and interacting, swapping gossip and sports stories, and other, similar time-thefts.
Can management boost the level of engagement? Yes.
Engagement is about two things: motivation and reinforcement. It is rarely about money, if wages and salaries are reasonably competitive. If management thinks that money is all that is required to turn things around they are mistaken. Money plays an important role initially, of course, but almost never a sustaining one. More importantly, if it is used as a substitute for leadership and positive day-to-day management the results will be disappointing.
Motivation sounds like it might be a job for experts, and in some cases it is. Most often, though, a company’s managers can turn things around themselves — assuming they are capable of recognizing the problem and addressing it effectively.
Getting managers to recognize the problem isn’t as easy as it sounds because in most cases the problem is management. It is easier to blame the engagement and motivational problems on the workers themselves, on the schools or on the way kids are raised today. There is no denying that those things are factors, but the quality of management is the dominant and deciding element. You are the manager and when you change the workers will change.
What if you’re not the boss but do manage a team? Where should you begin? First of all, start in areas where you don’t need permission, authorization or approval of any sort. Begin with the fundamentals and of these the simplest is respect. If you respect workers they will respect you and that will provide the initial motivation to “do a good job,” the first step in engagement and commitment.
Start with the easy stuff. Start the day by saying “Good Morning” to workers, especially your team members. Make sure that you look them in the eye when you say it, not your cell phone or some routine report. A smile is optional, but effective.
Next, add “Thank You” to your vocabulary and practice using it as often as appropriate.
It is a sign of recognition and appreciation. Completing a task might seem routine to you but should be appreciated when it is done well.
You should also begin to lead by example.
First, if you are not doing this already, be respectful when you answer the phone, even if it is an “inside” call or you recognize the name from caller ID.
There can be exceptions to this, of course, but make sure they are rare.
The use of “Good morning” and “Thank you” are the beginnings of mutual respect and will also restore an element of humanity to the workplace.
Reintroducing good communications procedure will help create or restore a professional atmosphere to your work.
Taken together these actions will begin to change the workplace environment and set the stage for further management efforts at motivating and engaging the workforce — and increase the probability that those efforts will be successful.
James McCusker is a Bothell economist, educator and consultant. He writes a monthly column for The Herald Business Journal.
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