The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is often attributed to the statement: ‘Change is the only constant.’  I think there’s one more thing: the role of the CEO. Despite the tough expectations from boards and shareholders and global challenges rising from war, geopolitical issues, inflation, supply chain issues, generative AI advancements to name a few, the role of the CEO remains constant – deliver a stable and strong performing company that is futureproof.

While we look for the latest trends in technology, explore new growth markets and rewrite our leadership playbooks to stay ahead of our competition, there’s one stark factor that we seem to have overlooked: the engagement of our employees who are deploying these new strategies, executing transformation initiatives and overseeing technology deployments.

The impact of the fence-sitters on the global economy is a staggering US$8.8 trillion or nine percent of the global gross domestic product.

Unfortunately, the global statistics aren’t great. If we look at the latest 2024 data from (the global authority on all things related to employee engagement), only 23 percent of our workforce accounts for engaged employees.

The disgruntled, disenchanted category represents 15 percent; and the fence-sitting, quietly quitting, disengaged group accounts for a whopping 62 percent. The United States is waking up to the fact that their engagement level is back at the 2013 level of 30 percent.

The cost of untapped potential

Imagine having a team of 10 rowers on your boat, with two people rowing their heart out, six just sitting with their arms crossed adding dead weight, and one person rowing in the opposite direction. How fast do you reckon your boat can go?

If this rowing team represented the entire workforce around the world, the impact of the fence-sitters on the global economy is a staggering US$8.8 trillion or nine percent of the global gross domestic product.

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Having worked across multiple countries over the last 25 years, I know for a fact that the fence-sitting employees are only seemingly disengaged. While you might think that they only turn up in body, leaving their brains behind, I’ve found that they are waiting to be discovered and motivated.

Turning around workplace disengagement and tapping into latent capacity to deploy more initiatives is easier than you think.

Five ways to get the quiet quitters involved

Initiatives that matter: Start solving frustrations that matter to employees and add value to the business. Often, we solve issues that only adds value to the business. I’ve often given more weight to problems that matter to the employees, than to the business value.

Like politicians targeting marginal seats, listen to what matters to the quiet quitters.  However, do it with the integrity and authenticity – unlike what some politicians do. Get your best diligent soldiers to lead these initiatives.

Involvement that counts: Strategically involve a few seemingly disengaged individuals in these initiatives to get them excited by osmosis. Ensure that your initiative leads allocate actions to the entire team.  Don’t let the disengaged be passive team members.

The key to turning around disengaged employees is involvement.

Results that shine: Help fast track results and over deliver expectations. Simple logic such as looking into Pareto factors will provide insights on which levers to pull to deliver quick wins. Progress is infectious. So, create huddles to help teams to monitor their results.

Positivity that excites: Get the teams to share and promote their success in formal and informal settings at every opportunity you get – town hall meetings, newsletters, intranet, bulletin boards and workplace posters for example. A rising tide lifts all boats and that’s exactly what you are trying to do by creating a culture that exudes positivity and excitement, to help the entire organization shift its capabilities.

A culture that engages: You will start to notice that your culture is shifting for the better. Engagement and productivity should be rising. Some of the fence-sitters should be changing camps to become engaged. Now you have a growing number of engaged individuals to deploy more initiatives.

The Secret

The key to turning around disengaged employees is involvement.

If you repeat the above cycle each quarter, within a year you’ll notice that the ship is turning faster than you expected. With the fence-sitters starting to become believers, teams will start feeling happier, more productive, better engaged and running on all six cylinders.