There is a worldwide malaise hitting businesses where it really hurts. Employee apathy is at an all-time low, with a recent Gallup ‘State of the Global Workplace’ report finding over 60 percent of employees feel unattached to their jobs and companies. A significant portion of that number are not only disengaged but actively undermining their company, causing extensive repercussions for businesses, which are believed to cost the global economy billions annually.

But there is a way to turn the tide and win back employee enthusiasm – and the most encouraging news is this can be done quickly and at no cost. Dave Garrison is renowned for helping companies foster a culture of high engagement, even in the face of adversity. The author of The Buy-In Advantage: Why Employees Stop Caring – and How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Give Their All has watched this issue increase while helping companies successfully come out the other side.

“We’re currently in a buy-in crisis, which has three drivers,” Garrison explains. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, people had time to do soul-searching and reflect on what is worth giving up in order to show up at work.

“Second is ‘the new generation’ because Gen Z – in addition to requiring money, values impact and alignment – will ask if a role has purpose.

“And the third is the time of global uncertainty we are living in – it’s easy to be distracted from the workplace, particularly when we’re not connected with our heart. People are not bringing their full selves to work.”

In The Buy-In Advantage, he sets out how to tap into the enthusiasm, creativity and engagement of a team – an area we need to focus on now more than ever before.

“When people have buy-in and you’re dealing with human beings – not human doings – a lot more gets done, which increases profitability, increases customer service, increases safety… Businesses need to invite people to care,” he says.

Recognize the problem

It’s crucial that leaders acknowledge when they have a problem with buy-in and take action immediately because apathy spreads quickly.

“It is like a cancer,” Garrison says. “I’ll hear CEOs say, ‘We need to really develop our culture.’ And the truth is, your culture is already there. It’s not the values on the poster on the wall.

“The culture is how people experience the workplace. And if leaders want to drive results, profits and turnover, this human energy is a source they’re already paying for that is not being tapped into.”

The good news is that, in Garrison’s experience, this issue can be reversed, citing a commitment of six months needed to start to see results. And action needs to come from the top.

“The biggest predictor of whether or not a team member is engaged is the engagement of their supervisor,” he explains. “There’s a fall-off of about 50 percent of engagement between a supervisor and a frontline person – so if supervisor engagement is 60 percent, the front line is going to be 30 percent.

“A supervisor or a manager who is not engaged is, to me, shocking and ought to set off alarm bells.”

Top-down change

The attitude and approach of the CEO are key to changing the culture of the company. Garrison says it’s important that the mantra ‘All of us are smarter than any of us’ is adopted when making decisions. Leaders should remember their title does not mean they know it all.

Garrison explains that leaders also need to seek and be open to feedback, commit to listening to the responses and be willing to take action as a result. Listening to the experiences and knowledge of those in other parts of the business is essential.

“The feedback 99 percent of the time from employees relates to the tools they have and the processes they follow,” he reveals. “It’s not that they want their pay doubled or are threatening to quit. The feedback you get is actually about how work gets done, and the people doing the work know it best.

“The question is, what does it cost the organization to commit to a process to listen?”

The stakes are high: being listened to at all levels has a transformative effect on employee engagement – while micromanagement is the enemy of buy-in.

“If you want to micromanage everything, you are the problem in the organization,” Garrison says.

“You can create clarity for people, but if people feel you’re going to make all the decisions, you’re letting them off the hook and creating the buy-in crisis. If you just tell them what to do, you’re inviting them to just check out.”

Seeking solutions together

Garrison advises that instead of instructing, leaders should ask for guidance from those highlighting the issue: What would they do? How do they see the solution?

“In a meeting, leaders should always be the last to put forward an idea – but the first to open up if it is about vulnerability,” Garrison adds. “Allow others to speak first and suddenly you have a whole buffet of options instead of people going, ‘Yeah boss, great idea.’”

And although there is no doubt this situation is growing and harming industry, Garrison says it’s important to acknowledge it but not feel shame.

“It’s not leaders’ fault this is happening,” he adds. “I was never shown as a CEO or leader how to deal with this.

“The board never asked me how I was on engagement strategies. It becomes invisible yet you can sense the energy is electric in some workplaces and go into others and feel people are dreading it – they don’t have to say a word, it’s insidious.”

But with a willingness and the tools to listen and learn, everyone could feel able to bring their whole selves to work – and flourish.