Our article talks about the symptoms of disengagement and the toll this takes on the communication between team members, or between managers and employees.

1. Judy Pruitt
September 24, 2010 Page 1 of 3
More Symptoms of Disengagement
Do you have employees that are disillusioned with their jobs, unwilling or afraid to alert senior
management of work delays or problems, have a 9-to-5 attitude, and are unwilling to participate
in company events? If so, your employees could be suffering from disengagement, which is a
serious problem that is costing the U.S. economy $350 billion yearly in high turnover rates, the
high cost of replacing the disengaged employee, and the drain on company resources.
Disengagement is a rapidly growing problem in business that needs to be eliminated.
Disengagement begins with discontent, which often leads to lack of self-motivation and
decreased productivity, and usually ends with complete disengagement leading to the employee
either quitting his or her job or being fired. This can be very costly to a business.
Learning to recognize the many symptoms of disengagement is vital since it is really easy to
ignore a co-worker’s mood and to assume that he or she is just having a bad day. Having bad
days are perfectly normal unless those bad days tend to happen every day.
The following are some of the faces of disengagement.
Employee Discontent and Disillusionment
It is not uncommon these days for an employee to feel discontent and disillusioned in his or her
job, which is the most common reason for an employee to quit or get fired. After all, we spend
most of our waking time at work so we want to enjoy our duties or feel we are doing something
important with our time. In some cases, people will attempt to fake enjoying their jobs, but this is
very difficult to do for long periods of time and will eventually lead to employee disengagement.
Employee discontent and disillusionment at work can lead to an employee feeling that his or her
potential is being wasted, which will ultimately lead to decreased self-motivation and
productivity.
Decreased self‐motivation and productivity
When an employee feels like a worker drone that has no opportunity for growth and
development and is unable to learn new skills, he or she may lose the self-motivation required
to be productive and can lead to disengagement. With lack of motivation, an employee may
develop a 9-to-5 attitude and not put in any extra time or effort into his job and might not attend
company events thereby effectively isolating himself from co-workers.
Disengagement is not uncommon in today’s workforce and leads to high turnover rates, which is
very costly to companies. As people become disillusioned with their jobs, they may spend more
time surfing the internet, chatting with others online, or playing games to ease the their
blog_01_disengagement_symptoms_cont'd.docx

2. Judy Pruitt
September 24, 2010 Page 2 of 3
perceived torture of being at work. This can lead to frustration, anger, and increased
complaining from employees, which might ultimately lead to complete disengagement.
Anger and increased complaining
Intense and prolonged anger is detrimental to the employee’s health and his ability to work
efficiently. The angry, frustrated worker is likely to disrupt other employees and reduce their
ability to effectively produce quality work. The angry, discontented employee is likely to mistrust
his supervisors will therefore complain heavily to any co-worker who will listen. Over time, this
constant complaining will increase friction with coworkers, damage morale in the office, can
permanently damage relationships with co-workers, and may lead to complete disengagement.
High productivity levels at work cannot be achieved with intense anger, resentment, and
frustration permeating the office environment.
Mistrust in management
It is very common for a disgruntled employee to mistrust his managers, which can cause
disturbances and disruptions in the workplace before he either quits or gets fired. The employee
may feel that the manager does not keep his word, give proper credit to the employee, or that
the manager continually invades the employee’s privacy. In today’s technologically driven
society, people tend to feel that managers have little empathy for their problems or do not care
about the needs of others. It doesn’t help that technological advances have blurred the line
between work time and home time, which can cause an employee to feel disconnected from
their families. This can also lead to complete disengagement.
blog_01_disengagement_symptoms_cont'd.docx

3. Judy Pruitt
September 24, 2010 Page 3 of 3
Beware of the corporation killer known as employee disengagement! Be vigilant in watching for
signs of disengagement creeping into your workplace to disillusion your employees and reduce
their productivity. We need to all work together to combat and wipe out this fast-growing
epidemic and to keep our work families satisfied and engaged.
Upcoming Article – “Employee engagement – You can’t do it alone”
Claire Sookman is a professional speaker and trainer on Virtual Teams. Virtual Team Builders specializes
in enabling global teams. To discover your teams top three challenges and receive a complementary
needs assessment for your team email us at info@virtualteambuilders.com or call us at 1.866.497.7749.
Virtual Team Builders - Engaging People for Results
Helping geographically-dispersed teams reach their maximum potential
Phone: 416.398.5160
Canada and U.S.: 866.497.7749
Fax: 416.398.3598
Email: info@virtualteambuilders.com
blog_01_disengagement_symptoms_cont'd.docx