TODAY’S NEWS. TOMORROW’S INSIGHTS.A daily newsletter from McKinsey & Company
Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities
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Productivity aid. Amid an assortment of buzzes, pings, and beeps, it can be hard for today’s workers to concentrate. Productivity experts recommend using a small but powerful tool to restore focus: a simple analog timer. Setting a timer—or flipping an hourglass—and racing against the clock can create the pressure needed to get things done, a time management coach says. Reward yourself, but make sure that breaks are spent on activities that actually relax the brain, such as stretching or taking a walk. Watching TV (unfortunately) doesn’t count. [WSJ]
Unmotivated. US worker motivation has dipped to the lowest point since June 2022, with a majority of employees not highly engaged, which lowers productivity, a recent survey by a large provider of payroll administration and other HR tools revealed. The survey, which dates back to December 2021 and includes roughly 2,500 respondents each month, found that around 40% of American workers are highly productive. The IT sector claimed the biggest proportion of highly committed workers. [Bloomberg]
The cost of disengaged workers. As labor costs have increased and worker productivity has declined, companies are struggling to find objective ways to gauge employee effectiveness. According to new McKinsey research, organizations pay dearly by having unmotivated workers. Employee disengagement and attrition could cost a median-size S&P 500 company between $228 million and $355 million a year in lost productivity, McKinsey senior partner Aaron De Smet and coauthors find. That’s at least $1.1 billion in lost value per company over five years.
Six types of employees. Our global survey of more than 15,000 workers identifies six groups of employees. The highly dissatisfied, actively disengaged workers have the potential for the largest negative influence. Roughly one in ten employees in an average organization belong to this group, who we believe are destroying value. On the other end, super-engaged “thriving stars” represent about 4% of an organization’s workforce. Discover six employee archetypes and strategies for boosting performance.
— Edited by Belinda Yu, editor, Atlanta
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