Employer’s nightmare: three-quarters of employees are being silently dismissed?

“In recent years, several international surveys have been conducted on employee loyalty and motivation, which, although they have yielded slightly different results, all of them reveal that a huge proportion of employees are not sufficiently committed. According to a 2023 Gallup survey, for example, 72% of European employees are in a state of silent resignation, meaning they only do the minimum necessary to keep their job and are already emotionally detached from their workplace, but other research also reports similar rates “Another 15-18% not only deliberately hold back their performance, but also work specifically against the company’s goals, as much as they can do without losing their job. The proportion of truly satisfied and loyal employees is therefore below 20% according to almost any survey”

‒ Erik Czinger, the Hungarian head of Munipolis, a company specializing in corporate internal communications, described the current situation.

It is also common for an employee to stick to their job even though they do not like their job or workplace, because they do not trust that even if they find another one, the situation would be better there. This is also related to the phenomenon of silent vacation, when the employee is seemingly available in the office or home office and shows some activity, but in reality does not deal with his tasks at all.

“There are complex reasons behind both phenomena, but the respondents directly pointed to overload, stress and problems with internal communication. While reducing overload and stress is a more difficult task and is often due to fundamental operational problems, good internal communication primarily requires awareness and possibly technological support. Especially when reaching employees or channeling their opinions is physically difficult, for example due to work performed at an external location or at multiple locations”

‒ Erik Czinger pointed out. The expert added that, based on research, properly informed and treated employees are 64% more satisfied, and regular, direct communication increases loyalty up to five times and contributes to employee satisfaction by 27%, while lack of information is one of the top 4 reasons for termination.

Both internal communication technology and conscious attention have costs, but they are dwarfed by the often million-dollar price of replacing employees who have left, especially compared to the damage and competitive disadvantage caused by employees who have spent years quietly leaving. Replacing a colleague who has left and has many years of experience involves, among other things, recruitment, training and administrative costs, lowers work morale, means a loss of knowledge for the company and reduces productivity until the new employee reaches the performance of the departing one. The “price” of a silent exit is even higher because it is a phenomenon that is difficult to identify, but can last for years, during which the employee only gives a fraction of his previous or theoretical performance – while he himself feels bad, which also damages the work morale of others.

“Good internal communication begins with deciding and then creating the conditions in the company for every employee to be able to get involved, and for managers and employees at any level to reach each other freely. To do this, you need to lay down a system of expectations, create an atmosphere of trust and assign the appropriate technical tools that make all of this workable, because surveys also support that only 16% of companies can reach their employees guaranteed, in real time, and only 25% can reach their employees if they work at an external location. 89% of companies know or assume that employees are not completely satisfied with their internal communication, yet does not take any meaningful steps. An internal communication system costs little compared to the above and if it is coupled with real intentions and is actually used, it will very quickly drastically improve turnover, loyalty and work morale”

– Erik Czinger concluded his thoughts. (Text: www.goldcomm.hu)