Employee disengagement is a problem that can affect any business, regardless of size, industry or area. Not only are disengaged employees less productive, but they’re also more likely to leave, spread negativity or harm the company’s reputation.

A recent Gallup survey revealed that only 32% of workers are actively engaged in their work. But how can you tell if your employees are engaged or not? And what can you do to prevent or address disengagement? Because, you can’t read minds, and “hawk-eyeing” (closely examining them) will only worsen the situation.

Why not just leave it? Well, resenteeism and quiet quitting are too hot to handle.

“Resenteeism”? What’s that?

Many of us know what it’s like to keep a job just to pay the bills. We’ve all done it, mostly for short periods of time or until we found our feet. But “resenteeism” is when you’re fundamentally unhappy and resentful and have no problem expressing it.

As an employer, you don’t never your employees to stay just for the salary. You want them to be passionate about the company, their colleagues and managers, and, most importantly, your products and services.

Resentful employee behaviour includes:

• Negative attitudes and complaints

• Procrastination and poor performance

• Withdrawal from team activities and collaboration

• Resistance to change or feedback

• Sabotage or conflict with co-workers or managers

The good news? There are ways to prevent resenteeism. The bad news? Quiet quitting is harder to spot.

When silence isn’t golden

Quiet quitting is a lot like mentally and emotionally detaching from your partner before breaking up, in that the employee has mentally checked out of their work and the company, and is doing the bare minimum required to keep their job.

They’ve lost their sense of purpose and have no intention of exiting Solitaire, never mind replying to emails. Some quiet quitters may have no plans to actually leave. They’re just demotivated and ‘more comfortable’ staying.

This is difficult to detect because quiet quitters don’t want to draw attention. Unlike resentees, quiet quitters demonstrate more subtle behaviours like:

• Turning down new projects, opportunities, or responsibilities

• Only taking on easy or routine tasks

• Claiming to be too busy or unavailable to help others

• Working slower, taking longer breaks, or leaving early

• Disengaging from social or professional interactions

How to tell the difference

Although resenteeism and quiet quitting are both forms of employee disengagement, they manifest differently and vary in outcome. Resenteeism is more visible, vocal, emotional, reactive, and disruptive, while quiet quitting is hidden and silent.

Additionally, resenteeism is more likely to affect the team and culture, while quiet quitting affects the individual and their performance.

Work your way back

These behaviours are often indications of internal issues, of which job insecurity, toxic workplace culture, economic and social challenges, and work-life imbalance are just some of the causes. So how do you address them?

As hard as the world’s authors, speakers, professors, and HR buffs try, there is no single guidebook that describes the “perfect” workplace or employer. Mind you, there’s no guidebook on how to be the “perfect” employee, either.

All you can do is look at what you’re already doing, get feedback, and fill in the gaps.

In the meantime, here’s a checklist:

• Recognise and reward contributions and achievements.

• Try to align employees’ work with the business’s vision, mission, and values, and show them, repeatedly, how they make a difference.

• Assign challenging and meaningful work, and encourage your people to learn new skills and take on new responsibilities.

• Give them greater autonomy and flexibility in how, when, and where they work, and involve them in decision-making and problem-solving.

• Communicate frequently and transparently.

• Ask for feedback and suggestions, and really listen to the answers.

• Support work-life integration and well-being, with real resources and benefits.

Got disengaged employees? Contact Network Recruitment for some good advice.