Dr Rebel: Disengagement is easy to fix, indifference is not
Today’s question: Many rebels in our organisation have become disengaged, which worries me. What can we do?
Rebels are known for their proactive attitude. They have a deep urge to improve things. Whenever they see a problem, they take ownership to solve it. For them, it is not about their ego but about improving the organisation. However, not everybody likes their quick thinking and action-taking. And so, they often encounter a lot of resistance. This really gets to them, as rebels truly do not understand why others won’t appreciate their extra efforts.
Disengagement often springs from disappointment
Rebels care so much about their work that they go all in. They are very committed to getting it done. But if they work in an environment that does not support them, rebels will be crushed. They often face so much opposition that it wears them out. They check out to protect themselves, but they still care.
Disengaged versus indifferent
Disengaged employees have turned their once positive energy into negative emotions. And that is the difference between disengagement and indifference:
- Disengaged employees were once (highly) engaged and passionate about their work, while indifferent employees never felt strongly one way or the other about the work they do.
- Disengaged employees still care about the outcome of their work, but their emotional investment has diminished, often due to a lack of recognition, unclear expectations, or poor leadership. Indifferent employees do not feel anything about their work either way—they’re not emotionally invested at all.
- Disengaged employees may still have a desire to improve their situation (or at least their performance), while indifferent employees are often content to do as little as possible without actively seeking improvement.
- Disengaged employees care for their colleagues – or at least the ones that have always treated them respectfully – and are still willing to help them, whereas indifferent employees solely focus on their work.
- Disengaged employees are not content about the situation, while indifferent employees are not necessarily dissatisfied, but they just don’t feel connected to the job.
☝🏻 Treat disengaged employees well, and they can become engaged again. That will be much harder with indifferent people, as they are difficult to reach emotionally.
Canary in the coal mine
Organisations must be very aware when their most passionate employees turn silent. Rather than ignoring what is happening, see it as a wake-up call. Dissatisfaction is a sign that something bigger is going on in the organisation. Teams with high disengagement might be a sign of poor leadership. People also disconnect due to a lack of a clear vision, leading to unclear purposes or meanings in their work.
Fixable
Once you understand the underlying reasons for disengagement, you can define actions to fix it. For instance, help your leaders deal with proactive, passionate employees and dare to say goodbye to the ones who can’t. Also, don’t look at strategy making as a top-down effort, but involve your employees so they connect to it. Give them tough challenges to work on, and trust they can handle them. When you do this well, disengagement can become a catalyst for change—for both the employee and the organisation. If you don’t, your most talented people will eventually leave.
👉🏻 BTW, it is easy to determine whether someone is disengaged or indifferent. Ask them: “Why do you bother?”, and see their response. If someone gets upset, they are disengaged. If they do not care and stay emotionless, they are indifferent.
do you have a burning question for dr rebel?