The Research section of T&D's April 2007 issue discusses findings from a study (Kenexa Institute of New York; n = 840,000 employees). Key highlights:
- 72% of new hires are actively engaged. (Not surprising. Heck, early on I probably studied fire route exits in my zeal to learn all workplace policies.)
- But... 43% -- nearly half -- disengage by the third year. Is that surprising? Hmmm. Sadly, maybe not.
You know, I looked at that graph again. Doesn't it kinda look like a "Change curve"? (Below.)
The idea that after a change event, an organization (or an individual) generally goes through a period of lost productivity as stakeholders in the change grapple with new meaning, new contexts, and so on. Generally, it's at the dip in the curve is where communications, training, social interaction, and so on needs to be increased.
Translating that back to the study above, I can see parallels in some folks becoming disillusioned when they hit a new job "running" and then find that things aren't all as expected. (But what is, right?) This negatively perceived change can cause a "morale curve" of sorts to manifest in the same way as the change curve above. It's in that sense that we as managers should be aware of this and institute programs of regular communication with those those we have responsibility for. Indeed, one of the practice leaders in the study above suggested, "A lot of companies say they need new blood. They spend a lot of time attracting people and as a result, create a situation where they allow the excitement of the new employee to dissipate... adequate training may not be provided... they're excited and want to make a real contribution, then the support mechanisms fade away..."
loy
