You roll out a big initiative. You send the email, hold the town hall, maybe even throw in a Slack message. And then… crickets. People nod, smile, and go right back to doing what they were doing before. There’s no pushback, but there’s also no real enthusiasm. Work gets done, but it’s the bare minimum. You can feel the difference—your team is there, but they’re not really there.
That’s an engagement problem. And it’s a bigger threat to your organization than you think.
What Is Employee Engagement?
Engagement isn’t about company happy hours, office perks, or even employee satisfaction.
It’s about whether people feel committed to their work and the success of the company. Engaged employees:
- Care about outcomes, not just tasks
- Proactively solve problems instead of waiting for orders
- See themselves as part of something bigger than their to-do list
It’s the difference between a team that pushes a company forward and one that just clocks in and out.
The High Cost of Disengagement
Disengagement isn’t just a morale issue; it’s a financial one. Consider these findings:
- Lost Productivity: In 2023, only 33% of employees were engaged, with disengaged employees accounting for approximately $1.9 trillion in lost productivity in the U.S. alone. (Source: Gallup)
- Profitability Impact: Companies with highly engaged teams experience a 23% increase in profitability compared to those with low engagement. (Source: Oak)
- Revenue Growth: High-engagement firms have an earnings-per-share (EPS) growth rate of 28%, compared to an 11.2% decline in low-engagement firms. (Source: Wikipedia)
How Companies Get This Wrong
Even leaders with good intentions mess up engagement because they assume:
- A lack of complaints means people are engaged. Silence isn’t a good sign—it usually means people have checked out.
- Engagement can be fixed with perks. No one stays at a company because of free snacks or wellness apps. Engagement is about meaning, not benefits.
- It’s the employees’ job to be engaged. If people are disengaged, it’s usually because of something in the system—bad leadership, unclear priorities, lack of autonomy—not because employees are lazy or unmotivated.
- Engagement surveys = engagement. Running a survey once a year and saying “we hear you” isn’t enough. People need to see real change in response to their feedback.
The Dark Side of Engagement
Here’s a twist: Engagement measures how invested people are in their work—but it doesn’t tell you if you have the right people engaged.
Imagine having highly engaged employees who are:
- Toxic to team culture
- Resistant to necessary change
- Underperformers in their roles
Engagement is a multiplier. If the wrong people are engaged, they can drive the organization in the wrong direction—faster.
What to Do Instead
- Make sure people know why their work matters. If employees don’t see the connection between what they do and the company’s success, they won’t care. Leaders need to spell it out—again and again.
- Give people real autonomy. Nothing kills engagement faster than micromanagement and unnecessary approvals. If you don’t trust your team to make decisions, they’ll stop trying.
- Fix bad leadership. The biggest factor in engagement? Someone’s direct manager. If you have managers who can’t coach, develop, or inspire their teams, start there.
- Follow through on feedback. If employees tell you what’s wrong, act on it. The fastest way to destroy engagement is to ask for input and then do nothing with it.
- Evaluate who is engaged. Regularly assess not just how engaged your employees are, but who is engaged. Ensure you’re fostering the right talent and addressing those who might be a detriment, even if they’re enthusiastic.
Final Thought
Disengagement doesn’t happen overnight—it’s a slow erosion of trust, purpose, and ownership. If your team is checked out, the solution isn’t a morale-boosting email or a motivational speech. It’s fixing the way work actually happens.
So, is your team engaged—or just present? And more importantly, are the right people engaged? If you’re not sure, it’s time to find out.
