The phenomenon of the disengaged employee—someone who avoids work discussions and does not want to contribute or share their views on any issue or

development related to their work—can be seen as one of the trends emerging alongside modern approaches to business, including teamwork and the formation of

work teams, and so on.

Regardless of how these two phenomena run in parallel, the disengaged employee is effectively missing in action: the organization benefits only from the routine, defined duties they perform mechanically.

The company’s loss is even greater when the employee who has chosen to disengage and withdraw is highly skilled and capable.

Employees of this kind are bound to have valuable insights and innovative ideas. The company stands to lose a great deal if it fails to tap into them and make every effort to do so.

To uncover all the ideas, knowledge, and experience these employees have to offer.

Faced with such a serious situation, the team leader has a major responsibility: to systematically address any form of disengagement as it arises—and not only that, but also to eliminate the causes and motivations behind it.

...any form of disengagement, and to eliminate the causes and motivations that lead to this phenomenon.

Disengagement: Causes and Motivations

Professor Paul Mulvey of North Carolina State University, Professor John Vega of the University of Connecticut, and Prasla Elsas of Clark University conducted

a study on this subject. The team of professors and specialists concluded that at least one of the following factors causes team members to hesitate to participate actively

and express their full opinions freely.

These factors are:

1. The Expert

إذا صادف Team When someone with more experience and expertise is present, their natural reaction will be to withdraw completely from discussion and decision-making,

and hand over the reins, letting that person do as they please, once they are convinced they are inferior in every way. This is, of course, assuming there are no personal conflicts or individual disagreements between

any member of the team and that experienced person.

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2- الحل السهل

As Stephen Covey pointed out, it makes sense for a team to do its utmost to distinguish between good and bad. But if the team has two options—one good,

and the other better, but requiring a special kind of effort—the easy choice is to go with the good solution.

This choice is, in itself, a retreat. Although it may appear to offer a solution to one problem or another, in reality it is no more than a temporary fix, and

The problem keeps resurfacing, becoming more damaging and more radical.

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3- نقص الثقة

Someone who has recently joined the team may hesitate to share their opinion or showcase their skills and experience, believing that their knowledge and skills are not enough to qualify them to contribute or

join the discussion, or that their input would have no impact or value.

This employee is more lacking in confidence than withdrawn. To ensure they participate, the team leader should help them build confidence, identify their core skills,

and make those skills clear to them.

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4- A decision that makes no sense

If you’re going to take part in a discussion or share your knowledge and ideas, there must be a very good, logical reason to do so. But if you conclude that the decision that

If it’s made empty or without value, you won’t have to make any effort.

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5- Pressure to commit to the team’s decision

An employee—one member of this team or that—may decide to withdraw entirely from any discussion and from the decision-making process itself if they realize that

there is a general consensus pushing for one decision or another, making participation pointless as long as everything has already been decided in advance.