Fixing Poor Engagement Starts With Understanding Its Cause

If employee engagement is poor, companies need to develop a plan for building it back up, and key to this is understanding the workforce's mindset, reports the Society for Human Resource Management . Finding the underlying reasons for disengagement is the first step, by asking in direct conversations with employees. HR practitioners should be empathetic and try not to defend or explain problems that come up. An anonymous survey that gives the workforce an opportunity to voice their complaints also can be helpful, as can tracking workforce-related key performance indicators. As they are gathering feedback, practitioners should ensure HR and the company's leadership are aligned with their solutions to employee disengagement. Once leaders receive feedback data, "they sometimes go into 'analysis paralysis' and can't decide on a focus area, which results in spinning wheels," says CultureIQ's Mila Singh. "The best thing to do is select one or two areas you think will have the biggest impact on engagement" and act on them. Also vital is transparent communication, and WorldatWork's Michelle M. Smith notes the quality of employees' interplay with their immediate supervisors "overwhelmingly determines the level of engagement and can account for as much as 70 percent of our engagement score." Advice from engagement professionals includes keeping senior leaders involved in any solution, setting specific goals and delegating responsibility for each one, applying awards in line with engagement programs, planning a clear budget, and staying constantly updated on workforce issues.