Age of disengagement

A Gallup poll of 1,500 Australian employees has found  20 percent claim to be  "actively disengaged" with their workplace.  In this context, 'disengaged' is defined as meaning disruptive, unproductive, disloyal and unenthused.  A further 62 percent said they were "not engaged" - not committed to their role or to their employer. It's estimated  the annual cost to the economy of this lack of commitment is $A30 billion.

"As the proportion of actively disengaged workers rises, so productivity, profitability and customer metrics drop," a Gallup executive commented. The main reasons why only 18 percent of staff feel truly committed to the workplace, according to the survey, are poor company leadership and problems with the employees' immediate manager.

[Source: "One in five workers actively disengaged" by Joyce Moullakis, Australian Financial Review, 30 March 2005]