Understanding Employee Engagement: Part 3 of 3 — Your Actively Disengaged Employees
Over the past two weeks, we've covered strategies for supporting engaged and not engaged employees. We wrap up this series with the most challenging and most urgent category: actively disengaged employees.
According to Gallup, "Actively disengaged employees aren't just unhappy at work — they are resentful that their needs aren't being met and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, actively disengaged workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish."
Actively disengaged faculty and staff can be a genuine threat to culture, retention, and the student experience. Active disengagement may look like arriving late, taking extended breaks, consistently complaining, and not meeting goals or expectations.
Supervisor Strategies for Actively Disengaged Employees
Active disengagement is often rooted in a breakdown in the employee-supervisor relationship — frequently beginning as "not engaged" and escalating when unmet needs go unaddressed. Supervisors who recognize the early warning signs can intervene before a situation becomes critical.
Do:
- Have a private, direct conversation that acknowledges the employee's perspective without condoning disruptive behavior
- Establish clear behavioral expectations and document conversations in accordance with policy
- Partner with HR early — don't wait until the situation has affected team morale
- Seek to understand the root cause: Is this a workload issue? A career stall? An unresolved conflict? An unmet basic need?
Avoid:
- Isolating or ignoring the employee, which can intensify resentment
- Treating active disengagement as solely an employee character flaw — ask honestly whether management practices contributed
- Allowing the behavior to continue unchecked out of conflict-avoidance; this signals to engaged peers that there are no standards
This three-part series has only scratched the surface of what's possible when supervisors lead with intention. Research from Gallup shows that managers account for up to 70% of the variance in team-level engagement scores, which means supervisors have more influence than they may realize.
Contact engagehr@gmu.edu for questions or support with the Faculty and Staff Experience Survey results.