Employee engagement can have a significant impact on your business’s success.
Picture this — you come into the office to find employees collaborating and communicating openly, completing tasks faster and to a better standard, and the whole atmosphere radiates positive energy and productivity.
This type of work environment is a dream come true for employers and business owners. And for many workforces, all it takes to make this a reality is increased employee engagement.
So how can you boost employee engagement and improve your team’s performance? The first step is identifying disengaged employees.
Why You Need to Identify Disengaged Employees
Just as high levels of engagement can skyrocket your team’s productivity, performance, and your business’s bottom line, disengaged employees can have the opposite effect.
But by identifying employees who are disengaged, you can then take action to motivate and re-engage them with your business.
The sooner you spot the signs of disengaged employees (and respond effectively), the sooner you can enjoy the many business benefits of an engaged workforce.
Spot the Signs of Disengaged Employees: 6 Signs to Look Out for
1. Poor Communication
If employees aren’t communicating with you or their colleagues, the chances are they’re not feeling engaged. They might be thinking about leaving and, as a result, don’t see the value of being an active member of your team. Or it may be that they’re simply not feeling motivated, and they don’t know how to express this.
2. A Lack of Participation in Meetings
Engaged team members will contribute to meetings and get excited about new ideas, but disengaged employees will do the opposite. They’ll keep their heads down in meetings, and they won’t bring any new ideas or enthusiasm to the table.
This also ties into a lack of communication. If disengaged employees are feeling withdrawn from your team, they might not feel like getting involved in group meetings.
3. A Lack of Focus
Disengaged employees are more easily distracted at work. Rather than focusing on projects and work tasks, they’re more likely to engage in personal activities during work hours. This can cause them to fall behind on their work schedules and miss deadlines as a result, costing your business time and money.
This is a huge problem for many organizations — 53% of workers use time at work to shop online, and 77% of employees access social media on company time. And if your employees are disengaged, these figures could be much higher within your workforce.
You can use employee monitoring software like Handdy Timesheets to make sure employees are on-task. Insightful features like screenshot capture, website tracking, and application tracking let you keep an eye on employee activity.
4. A Drop in Work Quality
Disengaged employees might not be interested in delivering great work — they just want to get the job done. So if employees’ work isn’t up to scratch, this can be a strong indicator of a lack of engagement.
5. Irregular or Anti-social Work Hours
If any employees are turning up late, leaving early, and/or taking longer breaks than normal, this is a sign that something’s not quite right. Similarly, if you allow flexible working hours and employees are working irregular or anti-social hours, the chances are they’re not very engaged with their work.
It might be that they’ve got something going on in their personal life, so approach this issue sensitively, but be aware that it could be a result of disengagement.
6. Low Productivity
Employees who aren’t passionate about their work, motivated to succeed, or committed to your organization probably aren’t your star performers. They might be working more slowly than their colleagues or spending time on non-work-related tasks.
You can keep an eye on your employees’ productivity with Handdy Timesheets. Features such as keystroke monitoring, screenshot capture, and URL and application tracking will give you valuable insights into how your employees are performing so that you can quickly identify disengaged employees.
Turn Disengaged Employees into Highly-Motivated Star Performers
A lack of engagement doesn’t have to be permanent. You can turn your employees’ performance around by helping them get motivated and feel excited about their work.
Use Employee Monitoring Software to Identify Disengaged Employees
Spotting the signs of disengaged employees becomes much easier with employee monitoring software like Handdy Timesheets. With advanced features that let you track employees’ working hours and review their activity, you can quickly identify employees who aren’t as engaged as they should be. You can then take action to re-engage them before their performance starts to impact your business’s productivity.
Encourage Communication and Collaboration between Colleagues
Improving relationships between employees can drastically increase engagement — your team is more likely to feel enthusiastic and productive if they enjoy working with each other.
Encouraging communication and collaboration between colleagues can strengthen ties and help you build a strong, engaged workforce.
Empower Your Team, Rather Than Micromanaging Them
It can be tempting to turn to micromanagement when trying to improve employee engagement and performance, but often this can push employees further away.
Employee monitoring with Handdy Timesheets means you can let your employees know that you’re keeping an eye on their performance while still trusting them to work autonomously.
Let employees manage their own tasks and work hours to empower them with this level of trust and responsibility. Then just check in on their performance using our software.
Schedule Regular Reviews and Offer Feedback
Continue using Handdy Timesheets to monitor employee productivity and schedule regular reviews to give your team members feedback about their performance.
If employees are aware their performance is being monitored and they’re expecting regular check-ins, they’re more likely to strive for great feedback.
Offer Employees More Freedom and Flexibility
Employees can become disengaged from their work if they’re not getting the work-life balance they need to feel happy and healthy. Offering more flexibility means employees can work on their terms and fit their professional life around their personal commitments. You can boost employee satisfaction and, in turn, engagement.
And with Handdy Timesheets monitoring performance for you, you can still keep an eye on employees’ performance no matter what hours they work, or where they work from.
Identify disengaged employees quickly and take action to turn them into star performers with the help of Handdy Timesheets. Explore its key features to learn more or get started with a free trial!
