Win Back Employee Engagement

“We have to stop the churn on our teams.”

“I have no idea how our work connects to the bigger picture.”

“We have too many dependencies.”

“The constant reorgs are keeping us from finishing work.”

These are real comments we’ve encountered in TeamHealth® radar assessments. While they may sound like signs of disengaged employees, they aren’t just complaints—they’re feedback from employees who are still invested. They’re still telling you what’s wrong.

I recall a heated meeting where my boss asked if I was okay afterward. I said, “You don’t have to worry about me when I’m arguing. It’s when I’m silent that things aren’t going well.” Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, has argued that the most dysfunctional teams never argue. Silence, he suggests, signals real problems.

The Silent Path to Disengagement

New employees typically start off quiet, feeling their way around the organization. As they learn the culture, they begin noticing what’s wrong—and they start speaking up. Too often, though, these employees “flame out.” They try pushing for change, but eventually grow silent. This is disengagement in its early stages. When this happens, they do one of two things:

1. They quit and leave.

2. They quit and stay. (A more dangerous scenario for organizations.)

More and more employees are leaving. In 2021, over 40% of employees considered leaving their jobs. Between April and September 2021, 24 million Americans did so. But why? According to a 2022 MIT study, the number one predictor of turnover is toxic culture—and it’s ten times more likely to predict turnover than compensation.

What is Toxic Culture?

Toxic culture is defined by behaviors such as:

• Disrespect: Feeling disrespected or ignored

• Non-Inclusive: Exclusionary practices

• Unethical: Lack of integrity

• Cutthroat: A competitive, rather than collaborative, environment

• Abusive: Intimidation or mistreatment

I’d like to draw attention to the word “ignored”—it’s the root cause of disengagement. This is where your opportunity lies in improving employee engagement.

Employee Engagement & the Importance of Work-Life Balance

Studies show that 50% of Gen Z and Millennials prefer being unemployed rather than staying in a job they dislike. 55% said they would leave if their job interfered with personal life. The number of employees open to new job opportunities increased by 30% from 2021.

So, can you afford to ignore employee feedback about the workplace? The answer is no.

How AgilityInsights Can Help with Employee Engagement Strategy

AgilityInsights® offers assessments and strategic retrospectives that ensure employees feel psychologically safe to share anonymous feedback. These insights help organizations create Organizational Growth Items (OGIs) to target areas for improvement.

For example, a comment like “The constant reorgs are keeping us from finishing work” becomes an OGI with:

• Problem: Constant reorgs are keeping us from finishing work

• Impact: Missed deadlines, burnout, rising defects, lack of commitment to short-term goals

When you receive OGIs, it’s a clear sign of engagement. Employees are entrusting you with actionable feedback. The choice you face as a leader is whether to address these concerns or risk deeper disengagement.

Trust: The Path to Engagement

As Charles Feltman states in The Thin Book of Trust, “Trust is choosing to risk making something you value vulnerable to another person’s actions.” Employee engagement is built on trust, and without it, your organization risks losing its most valuable asset—its people.

Making the Right Choice

With 55% of employees willing to leave for better work-life balance, it’s clear that happiness at work is essential. Organizational Growth Items (OGIs) are an opportunity. They’re not coming from disengaged employees—they’re coming from those who care enough to provide honest feedback and want to see positive change.

The path you choose—whether to engage or ignore—will determine the future of your company. Will you act on this feedback and foster an engaged, productive workforce? Or will you ignore it, risking further disengagement?