Living with pain every day is debilitating, it impacts mental health and reduces energy levels. In some instances there is no cure, and sufferers have to endure pain all their lives.
Emotional pain and physical pain have similar effects on the body. They both cause stress and debilitation, compromising activity and inducing inertia. So if you find yourself facing a negative working environment, it stands to reason that your company is carrying pain along with it. In many cases, this is a continual situation, affecting employees on a daily basis.
Disengagement manifests from lack of mental and social stimulation, autonomy and sense of purpose. Commonly arising in environments where change is resisted, disengagement causes productivity loss, breakdowns, absenteeism, quality issues and resignations.
People won't make their pain evident if they can help it - animal instinct prevents exposure of weakness as a survival mechanism. If the circumstance they face does not change, they will remove themselves from the situation causing the pain - if you are seeing high turnover of staff, this is most likely to be the reason. A few may hint at problems carefully with those they trust but most of the time this backfires on an employee and/or creates scuttlebutt which can escalate out of control.
Conversely, people who are energised look forward to coming into work and put their minds to making a great job of what they do every day. Their loyalty (which everyone wants to feel) is translated into effort, increasing productivity and improving quality output. Customer relations benefit from their enthusiastic approach and down-time (through tiredness and absenteeism) is significantly reduced. Employees stay faithful to this kind of culture and have no reason to look for greener pastures.
According to workplaceinsight.net, 66% of millennials in the UK prioritize workplace culture over salary, compared to 52% of those over 55 years old.
Harvard Business has a lot to say about workplace engagement. Here is one of their many articles on the subject, the fourth in a series you may like to read.
Your employees genuinely want to feel great about working with your company, to put their best feet forward and be loyal to your brand. They want to give their all and make a positive mark on the workplace and what it produces. Too often, though, they find themselves disheartened and drawn down a track of do-less-to-get-paid-more, seeing no point in minimising your wastage.
The ONLY solution is strategised engagement.
There is no alternative to engagement - you cannot fix problems like this by purchasing new equipment, team-building days, or regular treats for staff. If the mind-set within the company does not change, nor will the situation.
Here is a full breakdown of costs incurred by an average SME harbouring disengagement in the course of one 12-month period.
As you can see, the losses are extortionate with implications of grave concern.
As the costs to your company are unsustainable and the impact on your reputation severe, you'll probably want to do something about this kind of dysfunction. You'd probably rather see smiling faces coming through the door and good communication being standardised across the board, with visible increases in productivity and quality management. You could be prioritising improvements next year and want to know where to start in creating an engaged culture.
Talk to us about a workable strategy and use this document for in-house discussions with your team. Speak soon - you'll be glad you did.
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