Rules of engagement

Thousands of workers are actively disengaged from their jobs according to a new survey, which says they are costing the country more than $3.6 billion a year in lost productivity.

Being "actively disengaged", says the Gallup survey, leads to people being less productive, less loyal and less likely to offer excellent customer service.

These are the 15 per cent of workers who roll their eyes when you approach them for help, sigh when you complain about poor products or service and put the phone down on you moments after saying "I can't hear you, are you still there?". They are also often disruptive at work, bothering co-workers and causing them to be less productive.

The New Zealand Engagement Study says only 17 per cent of people working here are engaged at work, providing their employers with high levels of productivity, profitability and customer service.

The survey found fewer New Zealand workers are engaged at work compared to its 2002 survey. Then, it found 23 per cent of workers were committed to their job.

People unhappy in their jobs are often vocal in showing their negative attitudes, says the report.

And actively disengaged employees are less likely to stay with their company, with only 23 per cent of actively disengaged employees planning to stay with their employer over the next 12 months.

Gallup's research also found that disengaged employees are significantly less likely to recommend their company's workplace, products and services.

By contrast, engaged employees are psychologically committed to their company and to their role, have high levels of consistent performance and are more likely to stay with their company over time.

Using worldwide research conducted over the past 50 years, Gallup has identified 12 core needs that employees have in any workplace. Engagement will be high when all of these needs are met.

According to Anita Pugliese, a managing consultant at Gallup, the onus rests with managers to address these needs and create engagement at work.

"The role of individual managers is important," she says. "We have been studying the world's great workplaces and great managers for over three decades and have consistently found people tend to join organisations, but they leave poor managers.

"Great managers, those with the highest performing workgroups, address employees' core needs, select for talent rather than skills or experience and focus on employee strengths."

Pugliese adds that intervention at the local workgroups level is the best way to drive engagement and improve business performance.

"Even organisations labelled as 'best employers' or 'employers of choice' can have workgroups with high levels of disengagement, because of varying manager effectiveness at the local level.

"An integrated programme of measurement, education and intervention at the workgroup level is the best way to drive engagement."

Success coach Talia Mana says some people will never have buy-in with their employers because they are either mismatched to their job or the company culture.

"Psychometric testing may help some of these people in identifying which role is best suited to them as people - the most suitable job may have nothing to do with their skill set," she says.

"Satisfying this 15 per cent is not an easy job for a manager. These people may have gone without a pay rise for five years, or not been sent on a training course, and feel they are not really part of the team as a result.

"It may mean that some of these people aren't suited to working 9-5 and should walk away. Some people enjoy being told what to do at every step while others want more autonomy.

"Managers need to show these people that they are approachable. They should offer feedback, explain results and set guidelines."

Gallup says high levels of employee engagement in an organisation are linked to superior business performance, including increased profitability, productivity, employee retention, customer metrics and safety levels.

The company's research has also found that high levels of engagement relate to overall well-being and life satisfaction. It seems good communication and understanding the needs of employees may be all that's required to bring disenfranchised staff onboard to improve the bottom line.


Gallup's results explained


Gallup came up with its $3.67 billion estimate of the annual cost of actively disengaged employees to the country by using published statistical guides (standard utility analysis methods) and applied them to the $35,247-a-year average New Zealand salary.


This yielded $2448 in loses for each worker (for the total population). That figure was multiplied by 1.5 million workers in New Zealand who are 18 or older to produced the estimate.


* The New Zealand Engagement Study was conducted October to November last year among a sample of 500 working people, aged 18 years and older.