Claire Loftus from Evolve outlines a continuum of engagement amongst employees ranging from those who are highly disengaged to those who are highly engaged, and discusses what effect each type has on your organisation.

Employee Engagement on a basic level is the effort that employees put into work, their productivity, motivation etc.  Engagement levels in the UK are so low now it means for approximately every 9 people you employ, only 1 is fully engaged - meaning most Companies aren’t getting a good return on one of their biggest investments.

According to global consulting firm and employee engagement experts Gallup, engagement isn’t binary, in fact there are 3 different levels of engagement at work.

We call these; Highly disengaged, Disengaged and Engaged employees.  But what do each of these terms mean?

Highly Disengaged Employees

These are the people who do far less than is expected, they’re at the back of your boat causing complete hassle. They will be bickering and fighting, throwing the anchor and kicking holes in the bottom.

In terms of the customer experience with these employees, imagine you are going to the green grocers for some apples. Highly Disengaged Heidi will chuck your apples in the bag and won’t so much as say ‘thank you.’   When you leave you realise that half the apples are bruised and battered, and you didn’t get the correct change.  As a customer, do you think you’ll go back to this shop again?

The next employee category you have are;

Disengaged Employees

These are the people who only do only what is expected of them; they are not helping your business to grow.  They are the people in the middle of the boat; they will be rowing, particularly when someone is watching but they’ll also be happy to coast along when they get the opportunity.  They will also be watching what is happening on the other boats passing by and will be happy to jump onto another boat if they thought they might get an extra few pounds.

In the context of the Green Grocers, Disengaged Desmond will pop your apples in the bag carefully and may even say ‘thank you’ but he is also watching the clock to get out at 5 o’clock; he is not looking to add value to your business or for your customers.

Then finally you have:

Engaged Employees

These are the people who go that extra mile; they are the people at the front of the boat. They are rowing hell for leather and are pushing hard to get you and your business to the destination. These are the people who will stay late, pull you out of a hole and are helping you to reach your vision for your business.

In the Green Grocers this is Engaged Erica and she is determined to give you an exceptional experience, so you return to this shop. The apples you buy have been polished so you can almost see your face in it, and in fact Erica has delivered such a good service you’ve come away with apples but also a punnet of locally grown strawberries and some limited-edition chutney which will work really well cheese.

Which shop do you think you will return to?

In the next in the series, Claire will discuss how to recognise those employees who are disengaged.