How to Revitalize a Disengaged Workforce

Taking out the trash is one of those banal tasks that needs to be done, a thankless chore that typically carries no big payoff at the end. But when a director at a KinderCare center in Dayton, Ohio, began emptying teachers’ garbage cans, he created a connection with them that helped dramatically increase the facility’s employee engagement scores from the worst to the best of all KinderCare centers.

“He took care of a basic need for them that got him into every single classroom, and when he was in that classroom, he could talk to the teacher. He was able to give them a quick break,” says Jessica Harrah, chief people officer at KinderCare Learning Centers, a Lake Oswego, Ore.-based childcare and early education provider with over 2,400 locations. “It showed he cared about them. It made the teachers feel emotionally connected to him.”

It was an unorthodox strategy to increase worker engagement, though studies suggest even more creativity is necessary. Employee engagement hit an 11-year low in the first quarter of this year, according to Gallup, with only 30% of U.S. workers feeling connected to their jobs. That’s down from 33% at the end of last year. The recent drops in employee engagement were most pronounced among employees under 35, those who exclusively work at home, and workers who could do their jobs remotely but are onsite instead. It is a serious problem, costing organizations $1.9 trillion in lost productivity annually.

And the benefits of employees who are enthusiastic and involved in their jobs are many. For one thing, an engaged workforce reduces turnover. Highly engaged workers are 73% less likely to be looking for a different job than their unengaged counterparts, according to The Case for Employee Experience, a SHRM study released earlier this year. The SHRM study also found that highly engaged workers are 5.6 times more likely to have high job satisfaction.

Make Onsite Time Count

A significant reason for the poor engagement scores stems from managers’ inability to adequately lead hybrid workplaces, according to Jim Harter, chief scientist, workplace, for Gallup. Gallup measures engagement through surveys that ask several questions, including whether employees understand expectations, feel connected to the organization’s mission, believe their opinions count, and are rewarded for good work.

“The need for change in management hasn’t happened as rapidly as it should,” Harter says. Some managers aren’t reaching out regularly to their remote employees, leading to a lack of clarity about their roles and priorities. Without those conversations, “work is kind of chaotic, and when work is chaotic, people start to separate from their employers,” Harter says. On top of that, many organizations haven’t figured out how to best use workers’ time when they are onsite. “They are having a tough time figuring out the cadence of that,” he adds.

Yet the solution to lagging engagement isn’t bringing everyone back to the workplace full-time, because employees who are onsite five days a week but could work remotely also have lackluster engagement scores. “The ultimate issue here is a new way of managing people that honors autonomy, which is a new expectation,” Harter says.

But remote work isn’t the only factor negatively affecting engagement. Organizations with financial problems or poorly defined missions and strategies can also cause employees to lose interest in their jobs, experts say.

Communicate Expectations and Recognize Effort

While the reasons for disengagement may differ, the solution to the problem is the same: better employee communication and follow-through. For example, if organizations survey workers about their opinions, then they should act on the results. Harrah says that KinderCare takes its engagement survey results seriously. Each level of management discusses results with direct reports and asks for feedback. Beyond that, Harrah and other senior executives are out in the field, regularly meeting with employees to learn what they want and need. As a result, KinderCare has an exceptionally high level of engagement, according to Gallup.

“I’d say, ‘What’s the best thing about working here? And what’s the hardest thing about working here?’ And then I’m as transparent as I can be about what we’re doing to work on it,” Harrah says. “One of the comments we say [is,] ‘Our intent is always good. We don’t always get it right. And we need your voice to help us.’”

The leadership at Mary Lanning Healthcare in Hastings, Neb., also takes employee feedback seriously. Last year, the number of workers who said they didn’t feel connected to the health care system’s mission rose. Michelle Hopkins, the organization’s vice president of human resources, attributes that to employee burnout, along with layoffs and department closures stemming from the system’s severe financial problems. Historically, it has had high engagement scores.

Hopkins says the CEO and other senior executives now communicate what’s happening at the organization by sending videos to staff at least once a week. Department heads have been instructed to include direct reports in budget and strategic planning, so they are a part of solutions going forward.  

This year, the leadership started “Mission Moments,” where executives recognize employees who go above their expected duties and reflect the organization’s aim of providing high-quality, comprehensive, compassionate health care. Recently, a nurse was lauded for buying shoes for an unhoused person. Another woman was praised for refraining from eating or drinking anything at her desk in the early morning while checking in surgical patients because she knew they hadn’t been able to eat beforehand.

Get to Know Your Employees

Hopkins also says people want more feedback and information about their career prospects, so the organization now requires managers to have five substantial conversations a year with each of their employees about their careers, instead of one annual performance review. Those conversations, along with regular monthly meetings, help create a bond between managers and their direct reports, Hopkins says.

“We build those personal relationships with them. We know what their kids’ names are. We know when their kids’ birthdays are. We know when their anniversaries are and what their favorite colors are,” she says. “Getting to know people personally is really pivotal to our success.”

Younger employees want different benefits from their employers than their older counterparts, according to Hopkins. The system is considering adding pet insurance and paid volunteer days because younger people are interested in such perks. Hopkins notes that good employee engagement starts with hiring the right people, and that’s why she is thinking about new benefit offerings.

“The workforce is evolving,” she says. “We are keeping our ear to the ground to listen for what our employees need.”