Do disengaged employees care? We are often told that disengaged employees do not care and that they are a blight on our businesses that needs weeded out. This all stems from early employee engagement statements and publications in the ‘who is sinking your boat’ mould. Can you picture the pretty famous image of the boat with one end sinking into the water and two people highlighted in red. It was their fault. They were sinking your boat.
This encourages blame, which is never a good place to be. It encourages us to look in one place for a single, predetermined answer. Life is never so simple as this which indicates this is the wrong thing to do.
At etimes2, our experience of disengaged employees is quite different. We have found that many disengaged employees have become disengaged because they do care. They actually care quite a lot in some cases.
They are often potentially good employees who want more from their job than just a pay packet. They care about development, responsibility, quality, growth and progression. In other words, they are looking for something from their job (that was probably promised in the recruitment literature when they applied) and they are not getting it.
So, rather than looking for ‘who is sinking my boat’ ask ‘what is causing people to become disengaged?’ It won’t be the same answer for every person, but it is likely to be something they can take at least some responsibility for themselves.
Have a listen to my video and feel free to drop me an email at nigel@etimes2.com if you want to find out what is disengaging people in your business and help them find a path back to engaged and productive employees.
