Disengaged Employees Cost Organizations $8.8 Trillion Globally

Gallup just reported that worldwide, the cost of poor management and lost productivity from disengaged employees is $8.8 trillion or 9% of global GDP.

For the past decade, I’ve been saying that how someone is managed has the biggest bearing on that person’s engagement level.  Which is why I also say that employee engagement is not difficult.  If you ‘upskill’ all managers in your organization and hold them accountable for being a solid leader, you can catapult both employee engagement and productivity.

Although this proven solution is easy and straightforward, many organizations run into issues because they lack effective management training and the courage to hold managers accountable for their people results.  Additionally, there is a divide between how effective managers think they are vs. how effective employees think they are.

For instance, Gallup reported that:

What Can I Do?  Managers must be trained to be coaches, with a specific focus on giving ample recognition and providing meaningful weekly feedback.  Then, managers need feedback on how they are progressing (as determined by their employees) and one-on-one support when they face challenges.  I also recommend that you outsource feedback and one-on-one support to course trainers vs. an HR generalist or Business Partner, as the trainers will be experts in effective leadership.  To your success!