Safety Starts with Engagement
With employees’ expectations changing—especially over the last few years—employers must make adjustments to their approaches, including safety.
- By John Newman
- Jun 30, 2023
Declining Employee Engagement
According to Gallup’s most recent data, the percentage of engaged employees across the country has dropped by 4 percent over the past 2 years, following nearly a decade of steady increases. Simultaneously, “active disengagement” among both full- and part-time employees increased by the same amount. Additionally, at 1.8:1, the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is at its lowest since 2013.
The equivalent decrease in engagement and rise in disengagement should be concerning for businesses, as the engagement train now seems to have permanently reversed course following a steady rise. Typically, companies try to motivate the “middle of the pack”—the neutral employees, those either “somewhat engaged” or “somewhat disengaged”—when deploying an engagement strategy. Unfortunately, the data now shows that the middle has stalled, with neutral employees dropping to “actively disengaged” status at the same clip that engaged employees are slipping down to neutral.
Increasing Turnover
Last year has become known as the year of the “Great Resignation,” where a record 51 million employees quit their jobs. And according to the data, we know that plentiful job prospects, higher salaries, burnout and remote and hybrid work opportunities fueled the trend.
Unfortunately, though the economics have shifted since last year, the troubling parts of this turnover trend haven’t. Instead, amid record inflation, declining consumer spending, and shrinking margins, companies are in cost-cutting mode, which often means layoffs. However, especially among younger generations, the inclination to leave or change jobs is still top of mind if certain expectations aren’t met. Companies risk finding themselves squeezed from both sides if voluntary turnover stays high while the economic outlook remains uncertain.
A closer examination of the numbers shows this outcome is untenable—most experts estimate the cost of employee turnover to be around 33 percent of an employee’s base pay.