In short
The cost of employee disengagement and how to redesign the employee experience.
Guests
Deborah Perry-Pushoni (co-author with the host of Employment is Dead).
Key claims
Citing Gallup, about 79% of the workforce is not engaged or is actively disengaged, costing an average of 34% of annual salary; this totals about $7.8 trillion in lost global productivity. They argue traditional employment models fail to meet modern workforce needs.
Notable examples
employees want flexibility aligned to lifestyle/circadian rhythm, autonomy for real-time decisions, and ownership via contribution-based compensation; leaders should ask why employees should work for a company if these “10 operating principles of work three” aren’t provided.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Cost of Employee Disengagement
0:34 to 2:04
Explore the significant impact of employee disengagement on productivity.
“It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.
0:31Josh Drean:This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. Here's a simple equation that you can use to calculate the cost of employee disengagement. According to Gallup, about 79 % of your workforce is either not engaged or actively disengaged at work, which costs an average of 34 % of their annual salary.
1:09Josh Drean:If you do the math, it adds up to$7.8 trillion in lost productivity globally. It's an expensive problem, and yet many companies struggle to design meaningful employee experiences. Why? Deborah Perry-Pushoni and I share our insights in our book, Employment is Dead, where we declare that traditional models of employment are failing to adapt to the evolving needs of the modern workforce. So what do they want? Well, for starters, they want flexibility to work a schedule that matches their lifestyle and circadian rhythm. They want autonomy to make real-time decisions based on what they think is best for their role.
1:40Josh Drean:And they want ownership over the value they generate for the company through contribution-based compensation. The question we should be asking as leaders is if we can't give any of these, what we're calling the 10 operating principles of work three, to employees, why should they work for us? The new employee experience is working with a company, not for a company, in a partnership, not a contract. We've designed a roadmap to help you navigate this future of work. Be sure to grab a copy of our book today. That refresh you've been putting off until the right deal came along? It's here! Wayfair's Black Friday in July sale is happening now, so you can finally get the style you've been waiting for for less.
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From the publisher
The Cost of Employee Disengagement
4 Apr 2025
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Disengagement is costing companies millions. Coauthor Josh Drean says it’s time to rethink what younger workers really want from work.
Read more in 'Employment Is Dead' by Deborah Perry Piscione and Josh Drean: https://s.hbr.org/4j5gGlS
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