Employee engagement is a hot topic; with estimates that disengaged workers cost U.S. companies an estimated $350 billion every year. Yikes!
While researching and reading countless articles about employee disengagement, I couldn’t help but think of the NBC show The Office. You’ve got to love when a pop culture phenomenon can also be used as a reference for workforce issues.
If you haven’t seen the hilarious show (you deprived individual), here is a brief synopsis: The Office depicts the everyday lives of the office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
Michael Scott is the incompetent regional manager of the company. Take a look at his management skills here:
Michael lacks the necessary leadership characteristics to successfully manage the office. As a result, the work environment is chaotic and many of the Dunder Mifflin workers are not engaged.
The Gallup Organization, a research firm, states there are three employment types: engaged, not engaged, and actively disengaged. Since The Office has great workplace material, let’s examine the engagement types of some of the key characters. Plus, it gives you an excuse to watch The Office clips at work. If anyone asks, simply respond that the clips are part of a learning tool.
While researching and reading countless articles about employee disengagement, I couldn’t help but think of the NBC show The Office. You’ve got to love when a pop culture phenomenon can also be used as a reference for workforce issues.
If you haven’t seen the hilarious show (you deprived individual), here is a brief synopsis: The Office depicts the everyday lives of the office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
Michael Scott is the incompetent regional manager of the company. Take a look at his management skills here:
Michael lacks the necessary leadership characteristics to successfully manage the office. As a result, the work environment is chaotic and many of the Dunder Mifflin workers are not engaged.
The Gallup Organization, a research firm, states there are three employment types: engaged, not engaged, and actively disengaged. Since The Office has great workplace material, let’s examine the engagement types of some of the key characters. Plus, it gives you an excuse to watch The Office clips at work. If anyone asks, simply respond that the clips are part of a learning tool.
Engaged – Dwight Schrute
Dwight Schrute is a strange man. He speaks in a halting, intense manner, is obsessed with sci-fi and zombies, and has a wide array of weapons ranging from crossbows to nunchucks.
Despite his lack of social skills and odd mannerisms, Dwight is actually good for Dunder Mifflin. He’s one of the top salesmen at the company and has won numerous sales awards. Also, Dwight is extremely loyal to his boss and will seemingly do anything for the company.
In his own way Dwight displays some of the characteristics of an engaged employee. He is dedicated, productive, and takes pride in his work.
Not Engaged – Stanley Hudson
Stanley Hudson is also a sales representative for Dunder Mifflin. While he is hardworking, he is thoroughly grumpy, believes he is underpaid, and dislikes his boss, Michael Scott. He's also usually doing a crossword puzzle instead of working or listening in meetings (although, I don't blame him for zoning out in the conference room meetings at Dunder Mifflin!).
Stanley is a perfect example of a non-engaged employee who is ‘checked out’ and ‘sleepwalking’ through the day. He does his job without any interest, passion, or personal involvement.
Actively Disengaged – Angela Martin
There are several characters in the show we could have used to represent disengaged workers. However, Angela Martin takes the cake.
She is head of the accounting department at Dunder Mifflin and is cold, judgmental, and uptight. Angela is outspoken about her disapproval of nearly everyone in the office. When she makes a mistake, her first response is to shift the blame to someone else.
Angela is also the head of the Party Planning Committee at Dunder Mifflin. Typically, when a committee member suggests an idea, Angela will shoot it down with a mean comment. Due to her behavior, she is a constant source of complaints to human resources.
Disengaged workers are unhappy in their work and they don’t care who knows it. They may be highly vocal in their criticisms toward the company and will act out their frustration.
The Reality
Okay, so these characters are fiction. Still, if you don’t want your office to be like Dunder Mifflin, you should take note if you have any workers that display disengaged traits. Now we are not saying you should try to have all your employees become exactly like Dwight (there would be way too many nunchucks around). However, as manager it is your job to create a culture for employment engagement.
It doesn’t take much to keep someone motivated – just pay attention, communicate and interact with him or her.
No matter what though – please don’t take leadership or fashion advice from Michael Scott.
Sorry, Michael. A do-rag does not equal quality leadership. Sources: The Gallup Organization, Wikipedia, NBC, YouTube, IMDb
