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On That Pesky Employee Engagement Statistic

By now we’ve all likely come across that famed Gallup Poll statistic that 66% of employees are disengaged at work – and that’s only a picture of the American workforce. In fact, I overheard a conversation on this very subject in a coffee shop just the other day! Great! We know it! We have the data and if that number is even remotely correct, we all have a personal experience to back it up. There’s obviously a lot that goes into this subject, and I won’t try to treat all of those angles. Instead, I want to ask you the big question: SO WHAT? WHO CARES?

This is an uncomfortable, ugly question. As with many statistics that are fun to throw around, this one is no different in the sense that it allows and perhaps even encourages us to point the finger at other people and blame them for our disengagement or the fact that most of the people we deal with on a daily basis are miserable. We don’t really like to look in the mirror and consider how we might be part of the problem. We shake our heads and say what a shame it is that so many people are in jobs they hate. And they we shrug and say something like, “Well, work is a four-letter word, after all.”

All right. So what? Who cares that 66% of us are disengaged? Why does it matter, if business as usual is still going on, we get our paychecks, we live reasonable lives? I’d like you to ask yourself this question as it pertains to your own workplace. Why does it matter for you if 7 out of 10 of your coworkers don’t care about their work? Not your management. YOU.

Well, that changes things a little, doesn’t it? We know when we are directly impacted by someone else’s apathy or disgruntlement. It looks like meetings that are too long and accomplish nothing. It looks like the same mistake repeated over and over and over again, ad nauseam. It looks like leadership and management never in the place where the work gets done because the truth is, they’re disengaged as well! We know what it looks like to be surrounded by disengagement, and we know that it makes our own working lives very difficult. It’s hard to go against the grain, particularly when the grain is whispering very loudly don’t care, don’t care, don’t care.

If there is a personal implication to this, doesn’t that make you want to do something about it in your own environment? This brings me back to one of my main points, which is that culture shift starts with you. Are you working with people who are disengaged? How can you provide a catalyst for change? Maybe what you think you want is for them to just get fired, but let’s consider that for a moment. What if they’re miserable because of the culture of the organization? What if you could be a bright spot in their experience – treat them like a valuable team member, create accountability, address issues that you both face with proactive problem solving, serve their best interests – and see what results from this approach? Just curious.

I have been in this position. It’s hard confronting difficult people, working hard for them, and hoping that something might resonate with them so as to turn them from perceiving you as the enemy to their teammate. Sometimes it seems to be a total, utter failure. But every time, it’s worth it to me to ask what I might do to improve their working experience – even if it doesn’t immediately improve my experience.

The point here is this: If you know that statistic, and you have seen yourself be both engaged and disengaged (which we all have), what are you doing to impact this in your workplace? Perhaps you are not an owner or even in management or leadership. But if you choose to stand for the betterment and the health of the organization, it doesn’t matter. You will capture a body of the organization and who knows what you might accomplish together.

Activity: This all probably sounds rather idealistic. To that end, look at how you spent the last 15 minutes of your day yesterday. What were you doing? Did that activity lead to your personal engagement or disengagement in your work today? What end-of-day activity might positively impact your own engagement the following day? How do you set yourself up for success? How do you set others up for success?