Halloween is coming! This time of year is full of jack-o-lanterns, horror movies, and of course, candy. But it also brings out the spookiest characters and reminds us again of what it is that really scares us. I don’t mean just silly bugs or the fear of heights. I mean what frightens us on a deeper level; something real that has to be faced every day, and maybe even can’t be avoided.

What are you afraid of? I am scared of heights, the occasional alley cat, and not succeeding in my career. Although it may sound cliché, the fear of not living up to my full potential actually worries me, as I am sure it does plenty of others in the workforce.

Those that are with me on this know that compelling personal success depends mostly on your own determination, hard work, and a little bit of luck (if you believe in it). The rest involves the workplace environment you’re surrounded by, and how it encourages it’s employees to succeed and grow.

In the spirit of the season, here’s a little look into some frightening facts about employee engagement.

   $11 billion is lost annually due to employee turnover.

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   68.5% of all employees are not fully engaged at work.

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   17.5% of those employees were actively disengaged in 2014.

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   Millennials are the most disengaged generation and will soon make up the majority of the  workforce.

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   93% of U.S. adults left their employer to change roles.

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   26% of employees plan to leave their employers within the next 2 years.

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   Only 35% of U.S. managers are engaged in their jobs.

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   Only about 25% of business leaders have an employee engagement strategy.

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   80% of employees dissatisfied with their direct manager are disengaged.

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   82% of employees said it’s very important that their organization address the employee        engagement problem.

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   Only 28% of Millennials feel their organizations are making “full use” of the skills they have to  offer.

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   87% of organizations cite culture and engagement among their top challenges.

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   22% of employees report that their organizations have a poor program to measure and improve   engagement.

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So what’s stopping your organization from increasing engagement and helping employees live up to their potential by recognizing and motivating them? Employers need to face their fears of employee turnover, disengaged employees, and revenue loss and this year, give employees the treat of appreciation.. or else the trick is on them.

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∙ http://www.talentculture.com/workplace-culture-and-innovation/6-eye-opening-employee-engagement-statistics/
∙ http://dupress.com/articles/employee-engagement-culture-human-capital-trends-2015/
∙ http://www.dalecarnegie.com/employee-engagement/
∙ http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/182792/managers-account-variance-employee-engagement.aspx
∙ http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-wef-2015-millennial-survey-executivesummary.pdf
∙ http://www.dalecarnegie.com/employee-engagement/engaged-employees-infographic/