How to spot and motivate a disengaged employee

Disengagement is detrimental to your business. Learn 5 ways to spot a disengaged employee and how you can intervene at the individual and organizational level.

It’s old news that engaged workers are more productive and innovative, while disengaged workers carry a big cost. So why are we still struggling with disengagement, and what can we do about it?

We recently looked into this in our 2025 trends report, where 85% of employees said their organization could do more to improve their experience. We’ll share the practical ways to identify these gaps and help your team feel connected again.

The reality of disengagement

The latest numbers show that engagement is still a major challenge. Gallup reports that two-thirds of employees aren’t engaged at work, and disengagement costs the global economy over $400 billion annually.

On the flip side, research shows that businesses with the most engaged workers have higher productivity, better retention, fewer accidents, and greater profitability. As for employees, nobody wants to feel disconnected and burnt out.

Why haven’t we fixed employee engagement yet?

Most organizations have tried to solve (or at least reduce) the problem. But their success has been limited by these common missteps:

• We don’t try to understand why. The single most effective way to find out why employees are disengaged is to ask them, but many of us avoid those uncomfortable conversations.
• We haven’t benchmarked our performance. You can’t know how you’re doing on engagement unless you measure related performance indicators like turnover and conduct anonymous employee surveys.
• We don’t act on feedback. You’ll do more harm than good to engagement levels if you succumb to analysis paralysis and do nothing tangible with employee feedback.
• We don’t train our managers. Like employees, only 27% of managers feel engaged at work. Letting checked-out and under-trained managers muddle through can cause engagement to plummet.

What does the future of engaging employees look like?

Looking ahead, things aren’t going to get easier when it comes to engaging your workforce. Here are a few reasons why:

• Blurring personal/professional boundaries and tech fatigue: Technology may have freed employees from their cubicles, but now they’re juggling multiple apps and information overload 24/7. To make matters worse, 32% of employees say they lose opportunities to connect due to remote or hybrid work.
• Overwork: Overwork is bad for both employees and the organization. Yet 90% of employees still feel stressed on the job, and nearly half of them are thinking of quitting due to that stress.
• Sandwiched employees: Many employees today have too much going on in their lives to prioritize work. They’re caring for children, supporting parents, nurturing hobbies, running small businesses on the side – and the list goes on.
• Mental health crises: With employees getting stretched thinner and thinner, it’s no surprise that mental health struggles are on the rise. Therefore, companies must prioritize mental health in the workplace.

How to identify a disengaged employee

Still, there’s hope. But before you can tackle disengagement, you need to know what it looks like. These are some telltale signs to keep an eye out for:

1. Withdrawal

Disengaged workers do the bare minimum to get by. They don’t take initiative, collaborate with colleagues, seek professional development, or participate in anything beyond what’s essential. Keep in mind that someone also might just be introverted, so they might seem disengaged because they’re not talkative but their work will suggest otherwise if they actually are engaged.

2. Changing patterns

If employees are suddenly “not themselves” – coming in late, missing deadlines, being silent in meetings, or displaying other uncharacteristic behavior – it’s worth a closer look. Even if the case is simply that they’re going through a rough patch, opening a dialogue and letting them know that you care and understand will help them feel more connected and strengthen bonds.

3. Absenteeism

There are plenty of valid reasons for missing work, but engaged employees tend to find a way to be there. Excessive amounts of missed work may signal that they don’t feel that what they do is valuable and their time may as well be spent doing other things.

4. Negativity

When employees naysay every idea, refuse opportunities, and are curt with co-workers and supervisors, something’s up. Not only does it harm relationships with co-workers and clients, it also brings productivity and creativity down as others begin to adopt the same mindset.

5. Exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficiency

Watch out for formerly high performers who appear worn out and are less effective than usual. This likely indicates burnout and can have the biggest impacts on your best employees if not taken care of.

Disengagement can be contagious

All of these signs to look for are usually not isolated to one person. If others start seeing their coworkers engaging in disengaged behaviors, they’re more likely to start doing it themselves. This can include expressing negativity, taking more time off from work, or refusing to engage or collaborate on projects. Putting a temporary bandage over the problem won’t help, you need to solve the root problem (and it likely won’t just be for one person).

So how can we fix disengagement?

Once you know what to look for, you’re ready to start fixing the problem. There are several effective interventions for addressing disengagement at the individual and organizational level. Here are a few examples for both:

At the individual level:

• Initiate and sustain dialogue. Start a conversation, preferably in person, with a disengaged employee by demonstrating that you’re committed to helping them over the long term.
• Promote collaboration. The flexible work environment is here to stay, so support all workers with collaboration tools, social outlets, and recognition.
• Measure what’s important. Determine whether employees’ basic needs are being met (training, recognition, positive manager relationship). Fill the gaps, then measure again.

At the organizational level:

• Identify pain points. Identify where your weak links are in engagement based on employee engagement surveys, dialogue, and benchmarking.
• Develop a high-tech, high-touch plan and set execution goals. Pilot projects are an efficient way to evaluate the usefulness of programs, technology, and policies meant to boost engagement. Be sure to track results regularly.
• Expect to revisit frequently. You’ll never be officially “done” addressing disengagement. It should be a constantly evolving effort that’s responsive to changes in the workforce, organization, and industry.

Keep employees engaged with a workplace experience platform

Appspace is the workplace experience platform that keeps everyone connected. Whether your people are at a desk or on the frontline, we help you build a digital environment where communication flows and culture thrives.

Ready to build a workplace your employees love? Get a demo of Appspace today.