How engaged are you?

Here’s a stat guaranteed to curdle your latte: According to Gallup Management Journal’s latest Employee Engagement Index, 29 per cent of US employees are actively motivated and engaged in their jobs, while 71 per cent are unmotivated and disengaged either through being not engaged at all (54 per cent) or actively disengaged (17 per cent). A troubling set of numbers, certainly, and as pertinent to the UK as they are Stateside - particularly at a time when maintaining productivity has arguably never been more acute.

But who’s to blame for this workplace malaise? Bad managers incapable of fostering a supportive, rewarding and goal-orientated office environment or disgruntled employees doing only the bare minimum and not giving a toss?

This recession is definitely testing everyone’s mettle – business owners and employees alike. You don’t need me to tell you times are tough. But even in a nil-increase wage environment (Have you received a raise this year? Probably not, methinks), maintaining value for employees is as essential as maintaining value for shareholders. After all, the former are at the front line when it comes to driving customer engagement. And god knows we need plenty of both.

We’ll see the HR proof when the recessional pudding’s finished being baked, I reckon – ie. staff either staying put or leaving en masse after enduring months of management fit hitting the employee relations shan.

As we prep for recovery, like The Clash once sang: Should I stay or should I go?