A 2015 Gallup poll found that only 31% of Americans feel engaged at work. Similar results were seen across Europe and Canada. That means only 3 out of 10 employees love their jobs. What are the other 7 team members doing? Gallup found that 51% are ‘Disengaged’ and the other 18% are ‘Actively Disengaged’ (Ouch!).
How then are disengaged team members impacting revenue, customer satisfaction and the bottom line? A June 2011 McKinsey Quarterly found that organizations that have an engaged team on average have, 54% better EBITDA Margin, 34% higher better Net Income growth and 50% more growth in Enterprise Value to Book Value. Wow!
How then do we get a disengaged team over the “Bright side of the road?”
Here is my recipe…
- It starts with trust. Often disengaged team members are in a place where they do not feel appreciated, respected or trusted. I look at this way… The team member was thought of highly enough to be hired in the first place, so why is it that they are not made feel valued?
- Mountain Top. Team members will never go just anywhere a leader points to. We all want to know exactly where we are going and why.
- Simple Strategies – Simply Said. Do not overwhelm the team with too many complicated goals. Better still, involve the entire team in the formulation of key goals.
- Keep a Scoreboard. Imagine if you went to the local bowling alley with your friends. And down at the end of the lane in front of the pins someone hung a sheet – completely covering the pins! You throw your ball down the lane and it disappears under the sheet. You hear the ball hit some pins but you have no idea what you hit or how many. Often, leaders do the same thing by not letting team members see how they are doing. Openly share the target and the score – regularly!
- Team members in disengaged organizations will all say the same thing. No one knows the strategy, their role, their responsibility or how they contribute to the success of the business. What?! Communication is critical. Get out there and talk to people!
Tags:
Business Culture,
Business Strategy,
Communication,
Customer Satisfaction,
Employee Engagement,
Growth,
Hiring,
It's Already Inside,
Leadership,
Purpose,
Respect,
Revenue,
Robert Murray,
Robert S. Murray,
Success,
Team,
Team Work,
Unlocked,
Values
