Study: One in three employees unmotivated, unhappy

Heads up, employers. Just because your employees are sticking around, it doesn’t mean they’re happy about it.

People analytics company Perceptyx reviewed data from 15 million employees, finding that nearly half are unhappy at work, and one out of three employees are unmotivated as well — yet they have no plans to leave the company.

Dissatisfied and disengaged

The survey examined how well organizations are meeting workers’ needs in the following categories:

• respect
• inclusivity, and
• psychological health.

Thirteen percent of employees said none of these three needs were met, and because of this they were burned out and likely to resign.

However, Perceptyx noted the more alarming statistic was that 34% of employees reported having one need met, but just barely. These employees, while not planning on quitting, were unhappy and unmotivated. They also are eight times less likely to recommend their company as a good place to work.

Some more eye-opening stats about disengaged employees show they are:

• 71 times less likely to feel pride or commitment to their company
• 35 times less likely to feel optimistic about the future of the company
• six times less likely to feel a sense of personal accomplishment, and
• 50 times more likely to not understand the expectations of their roles.

The experts at Perceptyx say that instead of trying to retain the employees who are leaving, employers should focus on improving working conditions for the dissatisfied workers who are staying.

No one-size-fits-all solution

Disengaged employees aren’t naturally this way, which means employers can reengage them. This takes active listening, understanding and a willingness to make changes.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for this problem. Different groups of employees will require different things to turn their attitude around.

Once you are able to identify the disengaged group and pinpoint what they need, you’ll be able to effectively revive your employees instead of having a group of the “working dead.”