Active Disengagement – Don’t neglect your star performers!
Skills Gaps
The UK Government research briefing ‘Skills and Labour Shortages’, published earlier this year, highlights the difficulty that businesses are experiencing recruiting employees with the relevant skills. In August 2022 the Federation of Small Businesses found that 78% of small firms have faced difficulties recruiting applicants with suitable skills in the previous 12 months.
A key reason for labour shortages is that demand for labour has recovered faster than labour supply since the pandemic. The lesson here is to keep your skilled, high-performing employees engaged.
The true cost of recruitment
The CIPD estimates the average cost of filling a vacancy, including labour costs, is £6,125. For a manager role, these figures rise to a staggering £19,000.
The bottom line is that managers need to recognise and retain talented employees.
The most talented people know their worth. If they feel they’re not being properly recognised – they are happy to find a company that will. Most of the time they will do this quietly and you won’t even be aware until their resignation notice lands in your inbox.
According to research by Gallup, “More than half of existing employees said that in the three months before they left their job, neither their manager nor any other leader spoke to them about their job satisfaction or future with the organisation.”
Staff can be engaged, not engaged or – worst case scenario – actively disengaged.
The Engagement Boat is a great metaphor to illustrate the impact.(Source: Gallup Survey)
So how do you know when someone is actively disengaged?
At this point, employees simply feel so unappreciated they quietly quit. This is prevalent with high performers as they tend to become resentful if not recognised for their hard work. When hard work and great performance goes unacknowledged, they start to withdraw, revert to doing the bare minimum and even start to display counter-productive behaviours, such as bad-mouthing the organisation. Then as time continues and nothing changes, they seek alternative employment and ultimately leave.
This is a real problem as disengaged employees cost the world $7.8 trillion in lost productivity, according to Gallup data.
So, as a manager, are you doing enough to keep your most valuable employees engaged?
Engaged employees have higher levels of advocacy, discretionary effort and retention. They are also 40% more productive than their counterparts.
The Early Warning Signs
Pay attention to the early warning signs that your levels of employee engagement are at risk.
According to LSA Global’s Best Places to Work Employee Engagement Survey Data, here are Here are the top seven high performer employee dis-engagement warning signs:
- Lack of a Voice
Bureaucracy stifles the voice of high-performers. All too often, policies, rules, and processes that were initially created with good intentions, impede the agility that high performers need to succeed. Top talent likes to “get things done” and to feel like their opinions count. - Lack of Career Development
High performers are invested in learning, growing, and overcoming challenges. If there’s not a compelling career pathway that entices them, they are likely to look elsewhere to pursue their career. If you want to retain your top talent, ensure that they find their work challenging, see growth meaningful opportunities, and are able to play to their strengths. - Lack of Engaging Work or Projects
The best talent looks for work that is interesting, has real impact, and inspires their passion. They quickly lose interest in working on something that anyone else could do. High performers thrive on stratech assignments/tasks that are well matched to their interests and skills, have visibility, and will make a lasting difference. - Lack of Purpose and Vision
High performers need a sense of purpose and an inspiring vision. Helping them see the connection between what they do and how their work contributes to the organisation’s wider vision and goals is key to engagement. They need to believe the organisation will rise to greater levels of success in the future. - Lack of Accountability
High performers expect themselves and those around them to be held accountable for their performanceand their behaviour along the way. If all workers are not held responsible for maintaining performance and cultural standards, higher performers will eventually lose their motivation to stay and get results. As managers, this means delegating and empowering talented employees. - Lack of Confidence in Leadership and Team
If high performers lack confidence in their immediate boss, the team, or the company leaders, they are at high risk for leaving. They need to believe leadership is trustworthy, capable, and responsive to change. As managers, this is about showing integrity, authenticity, collaborating with and playing to the strengths within the team. - Lack of Creative Collaboration
High performers loathe complacencyand thrive on collaboration to generate new ideas and innovative approaches. In fact, most high performers become bored doing the same things the same ways. Top talent thrives on sharing ideas and always looking for ways to improve.
The Bottom Line
One study showed that in 42% of organisations, high performers are actually less engaged than low performers. Think about that for a moment: The employees who bring the most value are often less engaged (satisfied, inspired, etc.) than the employees who reliably deliver the least value.
No company can afford to lose its key employees.
As managers and leaders, we need to lead by example to create an open culture of learning, growth and collaboration so that top talent can thrive.
Engaging them at a high level will serve both you and them well.
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