Opinion: Worker engagement falls for first time in 10 years

“Rest assured that your recent accomplishments at work have gone largely unnoticed.”

I spotted a sign with this phrase while visiting a local business. Surely it wasn’t intended for guest viewing, and definitely not meant to be seen by a journalist on site for an interview. It could have been a joke, but there’s usually some truth in comedy, right? Yikes.

While in many ways it feels like we’re still operating at full speed to adapt to the disruptions in our workplaces over the past couple years, there isn’t room for business leaders to let off the gas when it comes to employee engagement. It’s an employee market after all. Turnover is time consuming and costly. Talent is in short supply. (Just read the excellent column below by Andy Drennen to learn all about labor shortages. I’m guessing you’re already feeling the implications.) And it’s simply smart business and the right thing to do to invest in employees, probably your largest budget line item.

Suddenly, that sign feels less like a silly meme and more like a warning shot.

Here’s a startling stat that drives the point home: For the first time in more than a decade, the percentage of engaged workers in the U.S. declined in 2021. 

The good news is employee engagement is higher than it was 10 years ago, but the upward trend that’s happened since then was lost last year. The survey by Gallup Inc. finds 34% of employees were engaged and 16% were actively disengaged in 2021.

Gallup Inc. gathered data from more than 57,000 full- and part-time workers for the report released this month. The survey asks questions on specific workplace practices and procedures that impact everything from profitability to customer satisfaction. 

Some companies experienced gains in employee engagement last year. Gallup reports they kept their eye on the fundamentals: clear expectations, senior management involvement, communication and accountability. The loss of focus on those basics is costly.

At the start of the pandemic, half of employees surveyed reported that they strongly agreed they felt well prepared to do their jobs. That figure has since declined by seven percentage points. The energy devoted to power through the pandemic has long burnt out. So, it’s not surprising to me that managers, along with health care workers, reported the most disengagement in 2021. And if managers are burnt out, employees are likely to be, too. They set the tone for a team’s success or failure.

In an interview with The Society for Human Resource Management, Gallup Chief Scientist of Workplace Jim Harter said the best managers the best managers know the strengths of their team members, recognize their desire to make a difference and help them set priorities to do so, give constructive feedback, and have at least one meaningful per week with each employee. 

Gallup has identified 12 employee needs that managers should meet to improve employee productivity and engagement:

1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

I found this list of needs immensely helpful as the context for employee success and a rubric for leaders to gauge it. Perhaps it’s time for all of us to take a beat in this time of disruption and get back to these basics.

How does this align with how you measure employee engagement? What would you add or subtract? I’m anxious to hear about your experiences. 

Springfield Business Journal Executive Editor Christine Temple can be reached at ctemple@sbj.net.