A Simple Fix to Employee Disengagement: Cut the Crap

For too long, organizations have paid lip service to platitudes like "we're all in this together" and "our employees are our greatest asset." Yet endemic workplace disengagement, high attrition rates and poor customer experience metrics reveal these are often empty slogans.

Employees aren't fooled by corporate-speak around shared missions when reality showcases a fundamentally misaligned relationship. At the core, organizations exist to generate profit and shareholder value — objectives that don't inherently align with employee wellbeing. This doesn't make companies evil, but you have to acknowledge their true nature and priorities.

When the inevitable occurs — restructurings, job losses, and policy changes that undermine workers — the gap between words and actions becomes a chasm. "We value our team" rings hollow as employees' livelihoods are disrupted in service of the bottom line. Little wonder only around 30% of the U.S. workforce is engaged. Or that only 23% of U.S. employees trust the leadership of their organization.

But there is a simple fix to repair this broken dynamic: Radical transparency about the organization's real priorities and trade-offs. Instead of hollow claims of "we're in this together," leaders should straightforwardly admit: "Our firm must remain profitable and competitive to survive. Sometimes difficult decisions will be made that negatively impact employees to protect the business."

Rather than insist "your jobs are secure" when uncertainties loom, address them head-on: "We're facing challenges that may require restructuring. We'll make changes as judiciously as possible, but no roles are 100% guaranteed."

This candor allows for an honest dialogue. While potentially unsettling initially, it cultivates trust through forthrightness. Employees can properly assess and prepare for changing circumstances instead of being lulled into false security.

Quit gaslighting about automation too. "AI won't replace you" is provably untrue as technologies relentlessly reshape labor needs. Admit current roles may evolve or be refocused as capabilities shift. But also be proactive in reskilling and redeploying your workforce to capitalize on AI-driven job growth opportunities during this disruptive transition.

True transparency extends beyond just admitting hard truths. It means openly sharing information - revenue figures, operational challenges, strategic plans - to include employees in the company's direction. After all, they're equally invested despite not receiving shareholder dividends.

This trajectory sets more realistic expectations while also making workers active participants in navigating changes. When crises or difficult decisions arise, they're addressing informed colleagues who can contextualize events - not bewildered, embittered bystanders misled by disingenuous claims like "we're ethical" or "sustainability is a priority."

Undoubtedly, executives face pressures from investors and boards to present an idealized public face. But internally, it's time to ditch the corporate jargon in favor of authenticity. Be radically transparent about core objectives, operational constraints, and the reasoned tradeoffs behind major decisions. This openness allows organizations to reset lacking trust and rebuild genuine partnerships with their workforce. Rather than continuing to withhold hard truths out of misguided protectionism, shared awareness cultivates mutual understanding. And that understanding ultimately breeds sustainable engagement, resilience, and a truly aligned employee-employer partnership. The alternative is allowing disengagement and cynicism to fester — a toxic culture that corrodes companies from within.

This degree of frank self-assessment and truth-telling from leadership won't be easy. It punctures illusions and dismantles norms of corporate euphemisms and sugar-coating hard realities. However, this reckoning is necessary to reset cultures eroding from the inside out due to large-scale disengagement and distrust.

The good news? With authenticity, vision and meaningful action, no workforce challenge is insurmountable. Tremendous upside awaits leaders willing to truly "cut the crap" and build transparent employee partnerships that cultivate a fulfilled, high-performing workforce reinforcing your competitive edge.

Embrace Inclusive Decision-Making

First, open the doors to including representatives across all levels — from the frontlines to the C-suite - in strategic planning and problem-solving. Actively listening to the lived experiences and perspectives of those closest to challenges and customers unlocks invaluable insights. More importantly, it signals genuine respect for employees as valued partners, not just orders-takers.

Align Performance Metrics

Talk reinforces culture, but incentives drive behavior. To underscore engagement, accountability, and retention as mission-critical priorities across all levels, link executive compensation to the same metrics. Tie their incentives to the key performance indicators by which frontline leaders are held accountable.

Combine employee satisfaction, turnover rates, and other people-focused KPIs with performance-based outcomes into both frontline and senior leader performance scorecards to strengthen connection, shared purpose, and accountability.

Build Cross-Organizational Bonds

Facilitate mentorship programs, affinity groups, team collaboration and social events spanning all levels. These cross-pollinating bonds build genuine community while fostering empathy and approachability between staff and leadership. Countering insular, us-vs-them cultures proves you truly view employees as one team united in purpose.

Prioritize Continuous Learning

Perhaps no engagement driver rivals clear pathways for continuous learning and skills development. From tuition reimbursement to formalized upskilling, cross-training, stretch assignments and more, investing in employee growth signals mutual self-interest. It cultivates a partnership mindset of companies and individuals mutually committed to elevating one another's successes.

Provide Robust Transition Support

Even when workforce reductions occur, companies can exhibit empathy by investing in comprehensive offboarding and alumni support. Offer outplacement services, job search counseling, continued learning opportunities and more. Yes, it requires upfront costs, but the reinforced goodwill mitigates negative contagion and disengagement far more expensive long-term.

For leaders willing to cut through deceit and disillusionment with radical transparency, the future shines brighter than misleading corporate rhetoric ever could. Granted, confronting harsh realities without caveats requires vulnerability and resolve. The challenges reflected in abysmal workforce engagement and leadership trust levels are real.

But so are the rewards of cultivating a workforce founded on trust, candor and mutual accountability. With only 30% of U.S. employees engaged and just 23% trusting their organizational leadership, the need to reverse these damaging trends is paramount. Fortunately, the solutions are straightforward, if not always easy to implement.

Engagement soars, people become ambassadors, high-potential talent seeks you out, and stakeholders reap the benefits of workers who see their own growth and fulfillment reflected in yours. It's time to cut the crap that's been slowly hollowing out the employer-employee relationship. Together, we can replace it with authenticity and true partnership. In the end, sincere transparency and meaningful actions will outshine empty platitudes every time.

Greg Salvato is the CEO of TouchPoint One, a leading provider of contact center performance management solutions. With over twenty years of experience in the industry, Greg is a passionate advocate for innovation in the customer contact sphere.