I actively participate in a number of professional groups. One of the participants fielded the question about a “Disengaged Employee” and how to handle it. I have seen this topic come up frequently and thought it was time for a Blog post.
I shared with this associate that my philosophy in dealing with any leadership issue is to look at both sides of the house. I try to "see" what the other employee is experiencing or feeling to cause disengagement. A disengaged employee is not experiencing job satisfaction, they are usually miserable to be around, and along with that they are not working efficiently thus becoming a weak link affecting the rest of the department.
It is up to the manager to lead by determining the problem and taking corrective action.
The few questions I ask myself:
Does the employee understand their job and how it affects the company whole?
Are employees acknowledged for "a job well done" by management or are they just approached when something goes wrong?
What is motivating the employee to act out in an undesirable way?
Back in my days of banking, we faced problems with employee retention, low productivity, and new employees we not matriculating into the corporate environment creating tense situations. We developed an entire "Employee Orientation Week" where the new hires met with a representative from each department to understand the functions of that department and how their job affected that division and specifically showing the employee how their role would contribute to the company goals. It did wonders with establishing a co-operative cross-training corporate culture where people owned their job and looked for ways to improve. Other divisions in the bank were not so lucky as we were.
Leadership is one big juggling act and no one style is going to fit the bill. To engage an employee, a leader needs to allow employees to contribute that guide them towards growth and development. An experienced employee is going to take the task and run with it. A technically capable employee venturing into new territory typically needs a manager that is a "sounding board" for support and guidance. A low skilled employee can still be part of the process by taking five minutes to explain the task and get their input through conversation rather than just dictating orders. You can cause disengagement by micromanaging the expert just easily as you can by giving the less experienced no feedback.
Based on my experiences, one of the hardest lessons learned is if an employee does not want the job there is no cure for disengagement. People will only do what they want to do. It is up to a manager to guide them to achieving their goals to fulfill that intrinsic value and pride in their job. It is really back to that old phase “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”. Sometimes a job is just a bad fit and you need to make the best decision for the organization. If you can not move the employee into a position that gives them a sense of worth, are you really doing that employee or the organization any favors?
I left a position on very good terms to pursue other opportunities. In preparation for my departure management dictated my replacement without input from the selected employee. They placed an edict on the employee to take over my function without having a conversation to determine if the employee wanted the job. Management thought they were doing the person a favor saving them from unemployment because their former role in the organization was being eliminated. My departure opened a position. Although the transitioning employee had the minimum skills required, she was disengaged in the process. Management gave us a 90 days lead time, assuming she would learn the ropes. BAD ASSUMPTION: The employee resisted all efforts to train, became despondent and near impossible to engage. There was resistance throughout the training process whether it was independently reading materials, scheduling in person training, or merely attending required meetings and meeting deadlines. The replacement disregarded critical tasks with date sensitive deadlines that demonstrated a clear problem. At one point I was scheduled to be at the employee's work site out of state to sit with them and mentor for two weeks, the employee called out of work just to avoid doing the job. When the person did show up to work, they disappeared in the building, started socializing excessively with others becoming easily distracted from the tasks at hand. At one point on my last few days with the company, the employee admitted they did not want the job and perceived the transition as a punishment rather that the gift it was intended to be.
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