More on Disengaged Workers

Gallup reported some causes of workers feeling disengaged:

• They don’t know what is expected of them at work
• They don’t have the materials and equipment to do their work right
• They don’t have the opportunity to do what they do best every day
• They don’t get recognition or praise for good work
• They don’t feel their superior cares about them as a person
• There is no one at work encouraging their development
• Their opinions don’t seem to count
• The mission of the company doesn’t make them feel their work is important
• Their co-workers aren’t committed to doing quality work
• They haven’t talked to someone about their progress
• They aren’t given opportunities to learn and grow


Without a sense of fun, workers will not cooperate. According to John Naisbutt, business people are mourning the death of the work ethic in America. But the new value is fun. Fun fuels the people to be productive. Fun creates cooperation faster than anything else, says Henry Donaghy, Fonaghy Financial Services. If you don’t put people first and make work enjoyable, there will be no profit, according to Rick Ralston, CEO of Crazy Shirts.

Criticizing destroys self-esteem and creates enemies. It does not engage a worker – this from the Universal Traveler by Don Kohbery & Jim Bagnall.

To overcome this and to get workers to be engaged, many companies hire training companies. Here are the top five most costly mistakes they make when hiring a training company.

1. Hiring a training company to give a seminar.
Seminars aren’t’ the answer. Studies show that management and leadership seminar participants forget 80% of what they learn within 72 hours.

2. Hiring a training company that doesn’t include corporate and organizational coaching as part of the package.
Coaching gets results. According to Fortune Magazine, recipients value their coaching 6 times the cost. 77% report improved working relationships with their direct reports, 71% with their supervisors and 63% with their peers. They also noted a marked increase in job satisfaction up 61% and in organizational commitment an increase of 44%.

3. Hiring a training company whose trainers are not properly trained or certified.
Effective training requires an INTENSE knowledge of organizational development, coaching, training and consulting. Lack of skills in any of these areas can lead to a decrease in employee morale and an increase in worker disengagement.

4. Hiring a company that doesn’t provide a year of more of follow up coaching.
Having training without follow-up coaching, doesn’t stick. You won’t get lasting outcomes or the return on productivity improvement and incremental revenues. Training without coaching only results in an increase of 20-25% productivity according to Public Personnel Management Journal. Companies who combine coaching with the training, increase employee productivity over 80% (Bureau of Justice Statistics, June 2001).

5. Hiring a training company without a track record.
The training, coaching and consulting industries are booming and many companies have newly established businesses. Because many lack the business experience, history and real solid experience of achieving outcomes, you can easily throw money right out the door. Would you hire a brand new CEO who had no experience?

I will finish this theme in the next blog, telling you the most important things to look for in a training company.

Terri Levine, best selling author, Stop Managing, Start Coaching!
http://www.terrilevine.com