perspectives
The Cost of
Disengagement
DISENGAGED EMPLOYEES MAY BE MAKING A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
We often read about high levels of disengagement
among employees and the resulting cost to the economy.
HRD Canada magazine recently reported that
despite seven out of 10 employees in North America
feeling disengaged at work, just under 35 per cent of employees are
planning to switch jobs. This means that only half of disengaged
employees are willing to actually do something about it and make
a change. The other half, likely for a host of reasons, prefers to
stay put and put up with managers or jobs they don’t like. These
employees are along for the ride and collect their biweekly attendance
fee.
The cost of disengagement to companies is certainly staggering.
According to a study by the Queen’s School of Business and
Gallup, disengaged workers logged 37 per cent higher absenteeism,
49 per cent more accidents and 60 per cent more errors and
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defects than engaged employees. According to Canada Human
Resources Centre, unhappy workers cost the North American
business economy over $350 billion per year in lost productivity.
Another finding by Gallup is that 82 per cent of managers
are miscast in their roles, which is likely one of the key factors
for disengagement.
However, what about the cost to employees who are staying
in jobs that don’t leverage their passions and key skills, working
for one of those four-out-of-five managers who have no business
being in management? Imagine the stress if you schlepp yourself
to a job you don’t like, in a location you don’t like, working
for a manager you don’t like, four or five days a week, year in and
year out, all for the sake of a mortgage, car payments and hydro
bills? Like a bad marriage, a sour employment relationship offers
the comfort of familiarity, but if work is a daily grind instead of a
By Evert Akkerman
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Unhappy workers cost the
North American business
economy over $350 billion
per year in lost productivity
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ APRIL 2019 ❚ 49
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