On the hit TV show,
The Office, poor Toby Flenderson was a one-man HR department, and he more than had his hands full. The cards were stacked against him from the beginning, and with a regional manager who hated him and was an overgrown child, Toby was destined to lose control of that office.
One of his most significant challenges was the complete lack of engagement from most of the branch employees. However, had he played his hand differently, he probably could have disrupted the massive apathy at Dunder Mifflin, Scranton branch.
Let’s look at a few responses Toby should have tried to win these office workers back and engage them in their jobs again.
How to Respond to Disengaged Employees
While it’s ideal to stop employee disengagement before it begins, the ship isn’t sunk once it starts. You can turn things around with some work. When you commit to boosting employee engagement it’s likely that the employee will mirror your actions.
It may be tempting to write off one disengaged employee as just a “bad apple,” consider the effects of not addressing their detachment from their work.
Business can suffer from even just one disaffected employee since they aren’t pulling their weight. But that dissatisfaction can spread to other employees.
When you notice an employee showing signs of disengagement, it’s critical to take action right away. Don’t wait around to see if it works itself out; it won’t. The sooner you jump on it, the easier it is to rectify the situation.
It’s important to realize, too, that re-engaging an employee is a long-term investment. There isn’t a patch you can toss over it, making for a fast solution. It took them a while to get to where they are now, so it will take a bit to get back on track.
And hey, even if all seems well with your employees at the moment, there’s always room for improvement. These pointers are a good reminder in general for how to keep your employees happy and engaged. They all contribute to a healthy company culture!
Walk the Walk, Talk the Talk
Live your company’s values. When you model responsible behavior, your employees are likely to follow. They take your company’s standards to heart and understand that they aren’t just words; they’re a belief system.
The business and its leadership team are more trustworthy when they do more than espouse how others should operate. Because unfortunately, it works the other way, too. If leadership is unenthused, employees will quickly pick up on it and consider them hypocrites.
Setting values for your organization contributes to a healthy company culture. Employees need to know what they can expect from their workplace. However, as many as 38% of employees say that their management has never talked to them about culture, or if they do talk about it, they don’t take action.
Set your company up for success by determining what’s most important to its culture, and then live those values.
Be Open to Flexible Work Arrangements
Many things have changed in our world since the pandemic's beginning, and our workspaces are undoubtedly among the most quickly evolving casualties. As a result, offices have been forced to try unconventional working arrangements, systems we would never have dared to consider a decade ago.
Yet, to our shock, we learned that some office alternatives could work well!
Life is stressful; we all have obligations outside of the office. However, companies sometimes tend to forget that and expect employees to prioritize work. But the pandemic working arrangements allowed many workers room to accommodate their personal and family needs. We learned that it was much less stressful when we could be present for our families.
Create a culture of understanding for your employees; be realistic that they often have massive demands on them outside of work. When you give your employees the grace they need to work from home if it makes their lives easier or to have a modified work schedule, they are more likely to commit themselves fully to the work in front of them.
Train Management
Leading teams of employees doesn’t come naturally to many people. Some coaching for management may be valuable in helping them hone their interpersonal skills. If they can respond to individuals, not just a team, they will be much more effective at engaging their employees.
Employee issues will come up from time to time. Management needs to be skilled at handling concerns and not making them worse. If employees can trust their leadership to handle uncomfortable situations well, that’s a win for the company!
Team leaders should be adept at setting clear expectations, communicating well, and problem-solving. Sometimes a little outside coaching can turn a great manager into an excellent one.
Communicate Goals Clearly (And Often!)
Employees need to understand the big picture for the organization and the purpose of what they do within it to support company goals. When one employee’s job description doesn’t seem all that valuable in the larger scheme of the business, it’s understandable that they may feel useless, as if what they do is meaningless.
It’s helpful when workers better understand their work has value to the overall picture. We all need to feel important and useful. When team and company-wide objectives are clearly laid out to employees, it’s easier for them to grasp their part in the process.
Employees are more inclined to put more effort into their work when they understand how it contributes and that it is, indeed, needed.
Ask Questions
As soon as an employee begins to feel disengaged, it’s important to discuss it with them. Ask them questions about what may be happening and how they feel. They may not even notice that the quality of their work has been declining.
You may discover that it’s a simple, solvable issue; they may just need to get something off their chest, whether work-related or personal. Even if they don’t want to talk about it, you’re sending the message that you care about their well-being.
And this is also a good time to seek feedback. What more could you, as a company leader, be doing? Don’t underestimate how important it is for employees to share their thoughts about the company and the office. 16% of company leaders never seek feedback, a huge missed opportunity.
You might not be able to set the issue right, but you’ll at least have an idea of what you are up against.
Engage in Employee Recognition
Celebrate your employee’s successes, both large and small! It’s vital to let your team know that you appreciate their hard work and talents. If you don’t, they will pull further and further back until they may just ultimately go someplace they do feel appreciated.
Gratitude can be a significant motivator for your team. So don’t let good work go unnoticed. Your employees will reflect your ambivalence, and their work will pay the price.
Wrapping Up
In today’s trending world of “quiet quitting,” an engaged and active HR team can do a lot to combat employee disengagement. Modeling engaged behavior, working with employees’ scheduling needs, and recognizing great effort are all wonderful examples of small things you can be doing as an HR professional to fight off apathy in the workplace. These steps won’t solve problems overnight but will have an impact with time.
