What does it take to have an engaged workforce? 37 companies around the world have found just the formula for their workforce. These are the winners of the annual Gallup Great Workplace Award. This is the 11th year for the award that recognizes organizations that achieve performance excellence through engaged workforces.
Only 16% of employees are actively engaged in their workplace, according to Gallup’s worldwide research. That leaves an astounding 84% that are not engaged, some of whom are openly hostile and working against the efforts of the organization and the other employees. Those are the actively disengaged. There is work to be done here!
What does it take to have an engaged workforce? That 84% number is frightening and since your organization wasn’t on the list what can you do?
Amazingly simple, one of the most powerful antidotes to disengagement is feedback. A glance at the chart below shows just how powerful feedback can be, even if it is negative.
On the right side, you see that when employees are ignored disengagement climbs to 97%. 40% of that workforce are actively disengaged and rowing against the organization.
The center figure demonstrates that providing feedback, even negative feedback, reduces disengagement to roughly 55% and cuts the actively disengaged almost in half.
Focus on employees’ strengths, and that actively disengaged crowd drops to 1%. The actively engaged who are excited to come to work and build an awesome workplace jumps to 61%. That just might get you listed in the Gallup Great Workplace award.
