Only a third of American workers say they are

According to the 2021 Gallup workplace survey, only 34 percent of American workers are engaged in their work, and 16 percent are actively disengaged. That leaves 50 percent of American workers in the “not engaged” category — putting in time, but not the energy or passion to maximize success. This is hardly what you want for your business or organization!

The Gallup organization has been doing this workplace polling for many years, and these results are based on a random sample of some 57,000 full- and part-time employees. The engagement numbers had previously been trending upward. Worker engagement rose steadily from 26 percent in 2000 to 36 percent in 2020 before the recent drop to 34 percent. Disengagement had gone down from 18 percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2020, with the bump up to 16 percent in 2021.

Yes, we have had an unprecedented pandemic but, despite some improvement over the past two decades, these numbers are still pretty discouraging. What is the problem, and what does this say about the American workplace?

Jim Harter writes in Gallup’s Workplace that, “employee engagement is determined by factors such as feeling clear about your role, having the opportunity to do what you do best, having opportunities at work to develop, enjoying strong co-worker relationships, and working with a common mission or purpose.” He adds, “Importantly, these are all factors that managers can directly influence.”

In their book “Learning Leadership,” Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner cite research that how a leader acts explains, more than any other variable, whether people feel engaged in their work, that the most effective leaders bring out two to three times more staff talent than do the least effective leaders, and that organizations with the best leaders are the highest performing.

Writing for Gallup’s Workplace, Shannon Mullen O’Keefe adds, “70 percent of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the team’s manager.”

She suggests five ways to improve engagement, including manager development that inspires growth, clarity of purpose about why it matters to perform, communicating transparently, empowering management decision-making, and leaders who stop and listen.

In summary, more than any other factor, it comes down to the quality of leadership.

There are many downsides if your employees are not engaged, including low productivity and burnout. Contrary to prevailing wisdom, burnout is most often not caused solely by overwork.

The number of hours worked is a factor, of course, but Ben Wigert writes in the Gallup Workplace that, “engaged employees who have job flexibility tend to work more hours per week than the average employee. … When people feel inspired, motivated and supported in their work, they do more work.” He concludes, “It’s not just the number of hours you work; it’s how you’re managed and how you experience work during those hours.”

In the present environment where so many people are leaving the workforce, businesses that create positive workplace cultures have an obvious advantage. Yes, pay and benefits are important, but there are many other factors that influence why and how people are working.

Wigert cites five factors that correlate with employee burnout:

• Unfair treatment at work

• Unmanageable workload

• Unclear communication from managers

• Lack of manager support

• Unreasonable time pressure

Notice that these are all largely under the control of business managers and leaders!

Are your employees making the consistent effort to be sure all workplace details are covered on a timely basis? Do they take those extra steps to ensure that your customers are fully satisfied? Are they likely to quit and leave you with the headache of having to hire and train new workers — assuming you can find them!

If your employees are not making the kind of effort that helps your organization thrive, set aside some time to analyze the possible reasons. What positive things are you doing that foster engagement, and what specifically could you do to improve? Do your managers need more training to better understand their impact on direct reports?

And what about you? Are you fully engaged in your work? If not, step back and do some analysis of your own situation. What steps could you take to up your game?

We each have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, including our own. Don’t underestimate your impact!

Douglass P. Teschner, founder of Growing Leadership LLC, can be reached at dteschner@Growing-LeadershipLLC.com.