2 in 3 disengaged from work as ‘great disconnection’ bites

With more businesses adopting hybrid models, it seems they are now struggling with engaging their workforce in this new way of working.

In fact, 60% (two in three) of employees have admitted that they feel disengaged from their workplace, as companies struggle to create a post-pandemic work culture that is fit for the hybrid world.

A poll by Robert Walters has discovered that the UK is facing a ‘disengagement crisis’ with almost half of white-collar workers revealing that their place of work has become unrecognisable in the past 12 months.

The main factors leading this include high staff turnover (54%), less people coming into the office (49%) and a decline in team socials (43%).

Meanwhile, the depressing economic outlook (32%) and the idea of moving abroad (28%) is fuelling this disconnect among workers.

It seems staff members are now more likely to invest less of their personal selves and are preferring to get their head down and get the work done.

Toby Fowlston, CEO of Robert Walters, noted his surprise at the findings, particularly after so many organisations have invested into their workplace culture over the past three to five years, with many placing “the more recent focus on luring workers back into the office”.

“What is apparent here is the traditional tactics used to build a lively, inclusive, and social workplace culture are simply not cutting it. The hybrid working world and subsequent decline in office attendance is having a detrimental impact on employee engagement and companies must act fast to keep employees engaged and attract the best professionals,” he added.

To tackle this level of disengagement, employers are introducing pay hikes in order to retain the talent they have.

For example, Robert Walters found that it’s been a record summer of mid-year salary raises for white-collar workers, as almost a third have received either a five or 10% wage increase or a spot bonus of up to £1,000.

While many businesses have opted for such methods to keep their employees, Fowlston has warned that “this really is a short-term remedy”.

“Much greater focus needs to be given to the wider topic of employee engagement – which should no longer be considered as a ‘buzz word’ or an intangible, immeasurable HR concept that is a ‘nice to have’,” he continued.

“Employee engagement is a key driver of motivation, commitment and productivity in the workplace – in a business sense employers need to appreciate that it really does impact the bottom line.”

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