We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but there is a high chance your employees feel unengaged and unmotivated, as statistics show 90% of UK workers are unhappy in 2023. As experts in employee experience, we believe these issues can be rectified if you spot the signs early on and take steps to prevent them escalating and to build better employee engagement. In this article, we dive into some signs your employees are unengaged and what steps you can take to rectify any issues.
Top signifiers of unengaged employees
1. Productivity decline and missing agreed targets
A motivated and dedicated employee will strive for success, with their goals and objectives being of key focus during everyday work activities. If you witness a sudden drop of continuous negative downtime in performance, there is a high chance that your team or employee no longer feels engaged in their work. This can also be witnessed by a drop in the amount of work completed, with a lower quality of output and with deadlines being missed. If employees do not feel empowered to do their best, the finer details and proofing elements of projects will also be missed. Understanding the reasons behind a productivity decline is vital as although it could represent an unmotivated employee, it could also result from a lack of training or external influences impacting their wellbeing.
2. Increased absence, extra breaks, and poor timekeeping
Without a justified reason, an increase in sickness days could show that an employee is unengaged. While becoming ill cannot be helped, frequent sickness should be closely monitored. When we refer to absence, we also don’t just mean entire days missed from work, but also extra-long breaks and poor timekeeping; this can show disengagement in two ways, both hinged on respect for the workplace. Firstly, it represents that the employee may not be ‘on the ball’ while keeping an eye on their work schedule as they are not feeling aligned with their duties. On the flip side, it could also show disrespect to the workplace out of frustration and unhappiness, which leads to the staff member being unmotivated to show up on time. Another sign to look for is presenteeism, which refers to an employee being present in body but not mind. Even if staff are sitting at their desks, they may not be engaged which does result in a low standard of performance.
3. Negative attitude towards all tasks
If an employee is unmotivated, every instruction will likely lead them to demonstrate a pessimistic response. Signs of a negative attitude could include rudeness, meeting any instructions with a pushback, and conflicts or disagreements with other team members. If left untreated, a negative attitude at work can impact workplace culture and start to seep into the path of others, leading to a knock-on effect; this may mean you don’t just need to assist one employee but also look at any workplace culture issues and fix those.
4. Little or no communication with others in the workplace.
Withdrawing from other team members is also a sign of an employee being unengaged, as they are showing signs that they don’t care to be part of the workplace community. If an employee stops making small talk, chooses to take their breaks at odd times, or even removes themselves from projects, warning flags are being waved. It should also be noted that when factoring in remote and hybrid working employees may feel unengaged due to a lack of quality communication. 67% of people say it’s been harder to make friends and maintain relationships since starting to work remotely. It’s important to check in with your employees that are working at home in silos, to ensure they feel connected and part of the team. Learn more about how to build a culture in a remote team here. 
5. A lack of engagement with incentives or development opportunities.
Unmotivated employees will not see any point in putting themselves forward for new opportunities at work as their rationale will be, “What is the point?”; This represents a complacent attitude, which means they are effectively stagnant within the workplace. An engaged employee will want to learn and develop in some capacity. Sure, not everyone is indeed motivated by the same successes. Some people may be happy working at their level and have no desire to climb the corporate ladder. However, even those content individuals will still want to better themselves within the workplace in one way or another.
Can employee experience consulting provide a resolution?
If you have read our blog about factors that make for a good employee experience, you will know that happy staff who feel listened to are more likely to be engaged and motivated. Working with an employee engagement specialist will allow you to unearth the factors affecting your employee engagement and motivations. Data insights allow you to understand why people may be feeling unmotivated. These quantifiable factors then allow effective measures to be implemented, to increase employee engagement and, ultimately, the productivity of your business. To find out what steps you can take to increase employee engagement and productivity, book a call with us and have a candid chat with our team.