A disengaged workforce poses numerous problems for business leaders. Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace report estimates that low employee engagement costs the global economy US$8.9 trillion. This equates to 9% of the worldwide GDP. We explore the effects and consequences of poor workplace engagement and whether enterprise UX effectively combat disengagement.
The Cost of Low Worker Engagement
Engaged employees feel enthusiastic about work and are involved in tasks and activities. However, according to Gallup, 62% of employees are uninspired, disengaged, and do the bare minimum. Moreover, 15% of employees globally are actively disengaged or miserable at their workplace and seeking new employment.
Low engagement can cause productivity to plummet and communication between employees, partners, and customers to suffer. Employee turnover may increase, leading to a plethora of expenses like rehiring and training.
Gallup found that businesses in the top quartile of employee engagement are 23% more profitable than their competitors. With only 23% of employees engaged in their work, employers are scrambling to find a solution to improve both workplace satisfaction and business outcomes.
Millennials Tuning Out In the Workplace
By 2025, millennials are set to make up 75% of the global workforce. The average millennial wants to communicate in a way that feels comfortable to them, be it through text or Twitter, and maintain that level of customization. Therefore, companies that don’t adapt their engagement approach are at great risk of near-obsolescence.
Businesses that fail to adopt modern technology solutions in the workplace fail to acknowledge their millennial employees’ expectations. Raised in the internet age, they demand seamless, autonomous, and instantaneous communications capabilities.
From developing internal mobile applications to company-wide intranets, technology integration should theoretically be helping millennials become more engaged in the workplace. However, statistics demonstrate that the opposite is happening.
Here’s the problem. Incorporating new tools into the workplace isn’t sufficient to improve employee engagement. Enterprise tools must simplify work functions and provide a better communication platform. The appeal and benefits of enterprise tools should drive high adoption rates.
How to Create Satisfactory Enterprise UX
The answer is surprisingly simple: ask your millennial employees. Conduct user experience research and actively bring your employees into the UX development process by having them test your systems. That way, you can determine the specific components of your applications or intranets that are confusing or counterproductive.
Giving your employees a voice to suggest improvements will provide them with a reason to be more engaged in the outcome.
Empowering Your Workforce With Enterprise UX
Business leaders cannot ignore the millennial engagement crisis impacting their bottom line. To resolve the problem, you’ve got to understand how your employees work and what they expect from the enterprise tools provided.
If you’re ready to tackle the workplace engagement crisis head-on, contact UpTop to learn how our enterprise services can help you build technology that inspires and empowers your workforce. Ready to improve employee engagement, productivity, and profits? Let’s chat.
