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Leadership: Cubicles Are the Root of So Many Problems at Your Company…That’s Why it’s Important for Leadership to Have ‘Big Ears’ & Be in a Constant Listening Mode to Keep a Pulse on Our Workforce

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Employees remain extremely unsatisfied with their careers, which impacts their performance and productivity.

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A January Gallup poll reported that only 31.5% of workers in the U.S. were engaged in their jobs in 2014, a slight increase from 29.6% in 2013. A majority of employees (51%) were still “not engaged,” and 17.5% were “actively disengaged” in 2014. The current level of 31.5% is the highest level of employee engagement since Gallup began the measurement in 2000.

Engaged employees as ones who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace, Gallup said. The group with the highest proportion of engaged employees is managers and executives at 38.4% while employees who work in manufacturing or production jobs recorded the lowest levels of engagement (23%).

Millennials reported they are the least engaged group at 28.9% and the dissatisfaction might be the result of not working at the jobs they had expected after graduation from college, the report said.

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Employees might be more engaged now than compared to 2000 because of improvements to the economy, unemployment and job market, the Gallup report said. The levels of engagement started to decline in 2008 during the financial demise, continued to fall in 2009 and did not improve until 2011.

Many employees are not engaged at work, because they feel a lack of a connection while their bosses continue to ask them to spend more time and energy at the office, said Gretchen Spreitzer, a professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“It’s not about pay and benefits, but to thrive, a connection is critical,” she said.

Connection occurs when employees feel connected to the work and to colleagues, clients or customers, Spreitzer said.

Employees who are thriving believe their work has a purpose. They not only care about it, but the work has meaning in some way, she said.

“People matter and are often the source of meaning at work,” Spreitzer said. “If employees believe that they have strong relationships with at least some colleagues at work, colleagues who they care about and who care about them, then they are more likely to thrive. Caring colleagues create a safe space for employees to take risks, have courage and grow.”

Once employees stop feeling engaged in the work they do, a “negative domino effect starts,” said Phillip Wilson, president of Labor Relations Institute, a Broken Arrow, Okla. employee relations consulting firm. If you are not satisfied at work, you don’t make as much effort and your work quality may start to slide. Your manager notices, and you start receiving negative feedback; in turn, your engagement starts to decline even more.

Effective bosses can stop this domino effect from going too far by creating an environment where employees feel comfortable bringing up concerns because the leaders are approachable, he said.

As employees are growing increasingly unfulfilled at their jobs, many bosses are taking notice to prevent additional turnover and headaches.

Managers should focus on developing the strengths of their employees and watch as their internal motivation grows, Wilson said.

Employees remain unhappy, because too many of them remain tethered to constant work email, are forced to work more because of a leaner workforce and possess an inability to focus on what one does best, said Cheryl Palmer, a career coach based in Silver Springs, Md.

Bosses can find solutions to these issues easily by giving employees an opportunity to recharge at work and create boundaries for when they are expected to respond to email, she said.

“Doing something as simple as allowing employees to take a break every so often without fear of reprisal can help employees stay engaged,” Palmer said. “Employees also will not feel as though they are always at work, because their personal boundaries are respected.”

Even though employers may not be able to always give people a position that aligns with their talents, “they can make an effort to find out what those talents are and try to assign them as much of that work as possible,” which will boost their productivity and engagement, she said.

What it often boils down to is what type of leadership exists at the company since there is no indication that the current level of employee dissatisfaction will improve, said Kevin Berchelmann, president of Triangle Performance, a Houston-based management consultancy.

“Engagement can’t be bought,” he said. “There is hope, and it’s not paying more money for benefits or compensation.”

Employees who receive genuine recognition for their work tend to thrive.

“I don’t mean a pat on the back with the perfunctory ‘good job,’” Berchelmann said. “I mean a face-to-face or phone call, explaining what they did in detail and how it improved the business. Be specific.”

Giving feedback is paramount. Many managers neglect to provide feedback often, and employees don’t know where they stand.

“Feedback is sorely missed by employees today, so find a way to make it happen,” he said. “Give frequent, relevant feedback to everyone you come across, even the high performers. They know they do a good job; they just don’t know if you know it.”

Employees want to know where the status of their performance, and a review of their work should occur more than once a year.

“They want to know where they stand, how they are doing, and they want to know what they can do to improve,” Berchelmann said.

Even something that appears insignificant such as knowing the employees’ first names can make a difference, said Wayne Bolio, a senior vice president, law and human resources for Nautilus, the Vancouver, Wash. exercise equipment manufacturer.

“Even with a company of over 300 employees, everyone is on a first-name basis as a result of our internal communications programs that keep us connected,” he said. “We know that in order to be successful, it’s critical to create a company culture where people are motivated and where collaboration is fostered and healthy lifestyles are encouraged.”

Nautilus has a low turnover rate, which is an indicator that regular meetings and two-way communication encourage employees to bring up issues or problems and or provide input for solutions, Bolio said.

“While voluntary turnover can be a by-product of disengaged employees, we also see an equal or greater risk in disengaged employees remaining employed,” he said. “Nothing can be more harmful than having a significant portion of your workforce actively disengaged and not fully committed. That’s why it’s important for leadership to have ‘big ears’ and be in a constant listening mode to keep a pulse on our workforce listen and solicit feedback in a non-threatening way.”

This article originally appeared at MainStreet. Copyright 2015. Follow MainStreet on Twitter.

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/why-working-in-a-cubicle-is-so-demoralizing-and-workers-are-demanding-more#ixzz3RLU0WwRU