It has become cliché to suggest that the most valuable resource a business possesses is its people. Yet, the truth of that insight cannot be diminished by frequency of use. When employees are committed to the company's mission and their role in it, they perform well, serve customers with excellence and possess a strong desire for the business to succeed. Yet, it is a fact that the vast majority of American workers today are neither motivated nor engaged in their work.

One thousand American workers aged 18 and older were recently surveyed by The Gallup Management Journal to determine their level of engagement with their jobs. Strikingly, only 26% of American workers were found to be truly "engaged" with their work. A much more significant number, 56%, reported that they feel "disengaged." They are not fully committed to their work, and while they show up each day they are not giving their best effort but simply "putting in time." Fully 18% of American workers reported that they are "actively disengaged." This group regularly initiates or participates in activities designed to handicap the success of the business! Their chronic complaining, undermining and fault-finding are a real problem for the businesses that employ them.¹

While there are no easy answers to problems with so great a magnitude, the solution clearly begins with leadership. It will take wise and courageous leadership to inspire and direct underachieving workers to a point where their talents, gifts and abilities are fully deployed into their jobs.

¹ Many Employees Would Fire Their Boss, Gallup Management Journal News Release, October 11, 2007

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