This summer, Gallup released its 2023 State of the Global Workplace report, an ongoing study of employee experience. The annual report shares how employees feel about their work and their lives, which relates to the resilience and performance of an organization. The report included insights from regions throughout the world, along with a note of caution from Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup.
Finding an Answer
Clifton said as economic growth continues to slow, it will be increasingly important to boost global GDP. He offered an interesting solution saying, “Change the way your people are managed.” The statement is based on estimates that low employee engagement comes at a cost of $8.8 trillion, 9% of the global GDP.
The culprit? Poor management. Bad managers translate into a loss of customers and profits and very unhappy employees. In fact, collaborating with a bad manager is considered worse than being unemployed with unhappiness spilling over to impact life outside of work. But employees are ready to share exactly what they want in terms of engagement/culture, pay, benefits and wellbeing.
A Problem Both Quiet and Loud
Gallup found many employees throughout the world are quiet quitting. This translates to 59% of the world’s employees being unengaged and not thriving at work. These employees don’t find their work meaningful and don’t take ownership of their performance as it relates to teammates and customers.
Next you have 18% of the global workforce loud quitting. These individuals harm the organization directly, undercutting its goals and working against leadership. Loud quitting is representative of a severe break in trust between an employee and employer. This leaves less than one-fourth (23%) of the world’s population engaged, thriving at work, and finding their work rewarding.
Closer to Home
Within the U.S. and Canada, the statistics are similar. The region tied with East Asia for the highest regional percentage of daily stress and the highest regional percentage of female employees who experience daily stress. Like global averages, these percentages include quiet quitting (52%), loud quitting (17%) and thriving at work (31%). 71%, compared to 53% globally, see it as a good time to find a new job. 47% are watching for or actively seeking a new job. This is slightly higher for individual contributors at 48% with managers at 44%.
Deciding Next Steps
Considering that most employees are neither actively engaged nor actively disengaged, there’s work to be done to get them to engage on a greater level. Employees who do not feel actively engaged in their work impact retention and organic business growth. To further dig down, organizations must measure for more than employee contentment. True engagement is being psychologically present to do work. This requires a supportive team and a strong and trusted manager.
