Looking at published reports that over 65% of our employees are not engaged with their work or company, one would think business managers and executives should be executed publicly.
I have a different twist on these figures and what they mean:
Most people are not engaged with anything.
Not their work, families, friends, tasks or their life. Perhaps their cell phones.
Don’t listen to what they say, watch what they do or don’t do.
This point of view comes from how society has changed over the last 3 decades:
Societal norms seem to govern general behaviors. Life is supposed to be fun, not work, not struggle. As John Milton in Devil’s Advocate said: “Bliss on tap”.
The word “Earn” is now a dirty word.
You are a victim, whether you know it or not.
The world is all about YOU.
Commercials are all about making you happy, not good products.
Don’t follow the crowd. Even at work.
The result?
We have 65% of PEOPLE who will never be engaged, about anything worthwhile. It is a choice they are making. You could give them 100 grand, 5 weeks of vacation and a new Tesla to work a cash register and they would still be non-engaged.
Society has taken the ideas of “Earn”, “Fight for” and “Success” and thrown them away.
The only ones who don’t complain are the ones who have “Earned it”, “Fought for” and “Succeeded”. Their silence is in their laughter. About the others.
Being a victim or disengaged (and acting like it) is an affinity group.
Every human wants and needs to belong to one. People wear NY Yankee caps in Cincy, even though they have never been to NY. Makes them feel important.
Disengaged or having a focus on oneself is simply the norm today.
People who are engaged are the ones who are different. They are, or will be, the future successes or already are.
Find them. Keep them. Train the ones who could be. Get rid of the rest.
They will only wake up after seeing others wake up. And if they don’t, you didn’t want them anyway.