One-fifth of U.S. employees are miserable; doubling the level of engagement is key to turnaround

Many of us accept a condition – especially in certain social and economic matters – as “the natural state of things.” Such generalized notions are often used to describe the state of a workplace as well. The term suggests there is not much we can do about them.

Work and the places in which people work dominate peoples’ lives. The Gallup researchers have drawn some enlightening conclusions from their research about the lack of engagement in many workplaces and how devastating such lack of engagement can be on the workers and on the outcomes of their labor. They call it “the misery quotient.”

The great news is that through our work under The National Agreement we are turning the tide against disengagement through our successful building of unit based teams. Check out this article by Paul Cohen of our LMP Communications team.  

Leaders at every level of the organization—any organization—know how hard it is to change things in the workplace. One reason why: the misery quotient.

That’s the term Gallup Chairman and CEO Jim Clifton applies to the portion of the workforce that’s “actively disengaged.” It describes 19 percent of U.S. workers—including managers—or some 20 million people nationwide, according to Gallup research. And actively disengaged workers pose a threat to organizations, job growth and the economy, says Clifton.

'Miserable employees create miserable customers,' he writes in his book The Coming Jobs War. 'For all you Six Sigma enthusiasts, a miserable employee, particularly a miserable manager, is a defect—a defect for the company, the customer, and ultimately the country.'

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