According to a recent Gallup survey, Australia is in the grip of a serious crisis in employee engagement at the workplace. Did you know that less than a quarter (24%) of employees reported being “engaged” at work? This means a whopping 76% of Australians are totally disconnected from their workplace or doing the bare essentials to retain their job.
The Carnegie Management Group outlines the impact of the disengaged worker on a company’s bottom line:
- They reduce productivity.
- They take three times as many sick leave days.
- Just over 20% will ultimately leave, influencing others to do the same.
- Create a negative drain on clients and the customer experience.
- Commit higher levels of fraud.
Benefits of employee engagement
Whilst management may in-turn respond in kind by sweeping the problem under the carpet, consider this:
- When comparing companies, those who rank in the top 25% for employee engagement levels experience nearly 4 times higher earnings per share growth than their competitors. (Gallup Consulting Group)
- Engagement creates an increase of up to 22% in productivity and a 41% increase in quality (Harvard Business Review, July 2013)
Workplace reality
In attempting to understand why employee satisfaction has stalled in the past decade, I found these pearls of insight by Josh Bersin, a contributor to Forbes magazine:
- The average office worker can focus for only 7 minutes at a time before they either switch windows or check Facebook.
- We are too distracted: Mobile device users check their phones 150 times per day.
- We are overwhelmed with too many emails, conference calls, meetings, and other distractions.
How to boost employee engagement: Dopamine
So what in our environment or “mindset” is driving the vast majority of us to mindlessness in the workplace? Is it a poor culture or a lack meaningful purpose in the workplace? After extensive research and insight in neuroscience and human motivation, I believe the true culprit is living inside our brains: Dopamine.
How dopamine impacts workplace productivity
Scientific research tells us that a normal supply of dopamine is essential for sustained thought and motivation in the workplace. Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have found a strong link between low levels of dopamine and impulsive behaviour. Furthermore, when dopamine levels are low, feelings of worthlessness are exacerbated and our resilience to stress is impaired.
Have you ever wondered why it feels so good after a massage? The Journal of Neuroscience has reported that massage therapy alleviates stress by reducing cortisol. It also increases our “feel-good” neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. It gives new meaning to the words “a happy ending”.
Five key steps to boost employee engagment
So what can you do to stabilise dopamine levels in your brain and improve productivity? Here are my top 5 tips:
- Consume organic coffee in the morning to boost dopamine.
- Respect your body’s sleep-wake cycle. It is only in deep sleep that our brain has the ability to flush toxins out of our nervous system and reset dopamine levels.
- Supportive supplements: You need Vitamin B6 to make dopamine and Vitamin C to break it down.
- Adopt a low carbohydrate diet: Big spikes in blood sugar negatively affects your concentration and churning of dopamine.
- Employee recognition and acknowledgement: Studies show that any form of praise increases dopamine and happiness.
