👩🏽🦱 Ema (Customer Care)
She once greeted every caller with warmth—now her tone is flat, rushed, and dismissive. She avoids helping, transfers calls, and has already called in sick three times this month.
👱🏻♂️ David (Software Developer)
He used to bring fresh ideas and curiosity—now he keeps his camera off, contributes little, and submits buggy code others fix. When deadlines slip, he blames vague "technical issues" and logs off.
👨🦳 Lukas (Sales Leader)
He once energized his team with strategy and coaching—now he’s distant, avoids CRM and calls, and blames the market for poor sales results. As his engagement fades, so does his team’s performance.
What do they have in common? They’re not underperforming due to incompetence. They’re disengaged. And they’re signaling it clearly—if anyone is looking.
Disengagement often shows up as withdrawal, reduced initiative, rising absenteeism, or declining work quality. These signals are easily misread as laziness or attitude problems, when in fact they reflect a deeper issue: disconnection from meaning, purpose, team or direction at work. In some cases, it’s “quiet quitting.” In others, it’s the early stage of burnout.
And this isn’t rare. It’s alarmingly common. According to Gallup’s 2024 report, only 23% of employees globally are actively engaged in their work. A staggering 62% are not engaged, and 15% are actively disengaged. If you have a team of ten, statistically speaking, 6 of your people are not fully committed, and at least 1 is at high risk of leaving.
Disengaged employees carry a steep price. Gallup’s 2024 research estimates they cost their employer 34% of their annual salary. That figure excludes the broader, more corrosive impact: declining team morale, lower customer satisfaction, and the compounding costs of turnover, rehiring, and retraining—often reaching up to twice an employee’s annual pay.
What’s more, disengaged employees are 43% more likely to leave. And even those who stay can reduce team productivity by as much as 20%. (Deloitte, Gallup) One person’s disengagement can trigger a domino effect—especially in tight-knit teams or high-pressure environments.
A tech company employs a Software Developer earning €4,000. If disengaged, the company loses over €16,000 each year in lost productivity alone. If the employee quits, total costs—including hiring and training—can reach €96,000. Multiply that across just five people, and you’re looking at €400,000 in silent losses.
And yet, many leaders don’t see it until it’s too late. That’s partly because disengagement rarely announces itself. In sales, disengagement might look like a full pipeline—but with no real conversations happening with customers. For remote workers, especially among the rising Gen Z workforce, disengagement could manifest as keeping the camera off and staying silent during meetings. For shy or socially anxious employees, a decline in engagement might not be obvious at all. Relying solely on poor results as the main indicator means months of wasted salaries and revenue, all while the employee may have already mentally checked out—or even quietly quit.
At the same time, broader workforce trends are adding pressure. In 2023, overall employee wellbeing declined—most notably among those under 35. (McKinsey) And since engagement and wellbeing are deeply interconnected, focus on engagement may be critical for addressing these issues.
So how to spot it or differentiate between just a bad week, blatant underperformance or what is actually the start of a long-term disengagement spiral? And most importantly, what to do about it?
It starts with leaders. According to Gallup’s 2024 research, management quality accounts for 70% of the variance in team engagement levels. This means that, more than any other factor, it’s the way leaders lead that determines whether employees stay engaged, motivated, and productive—or start to disconnect. The best leaders consistently:
✅ Listen to feedback and value opinions
✅ Clarify expectations, roles, and responsibilities
✅ Provide necessary resources and tools
✅ Coach instead of control
✅ Connect authentically
✅ Genuinely care for their team’s well-being
✅ Congratulate, celebrate, and recognize progress and success
✅ Create opportunities for meaningful contribution
But to truly understand where disengagement is brewing—and to do something about it—you need more than good habits, especially when your team is large, remote, or under pressure, warning signs can easily go unnoticed. And because every person has different needs and preferences, one-size-fits-all solutions simply don’t work. Each person brings unique motivations, challenges, and working styles, which means you need:
✔️ Regular, comparable, and objective insight focused on what truly matters
✔️ Fast touchpoints resulting in actionable and most impactful tips that don't drain your or your team’s time through endless back-and-forth communication and trial and error approach.
That’s why smart organizations don’t rely on annual surveys or vague check-ins. They invest in simple, efficient systems that gather real behavioral data without draining time or adding complexity.
Behavera provides that system. We help companies detect disengagement early—by measuring not only who is struggling, but why, and what can be done about it. We provide fast, repeatable touchpoints that give managers clarity. And for companies unsure which leaders need support, our leadership diagnostics pinpoint strengths and development areas so training and coaching can be targeted where it matters most.
Nearly 60% of leaders consider it important to understand individual motivations and needs of their employees to tailor their work in order to reach the top of their performance. (Deloitte) Companies like Exapndo, Valxon or Effectix are already using Behavera to do so and equip their managers with real-time insights. With the right data, their leaders can step in early, re-engage their teams, and protect performance before it's compromised.
Wondering if there might be an Ema, David, or Lukas in your team quietly slipping through the cracks? With Behavera, you gain clear, data-driven insights into team engagement—without guessing anymore. Our tools are easy to use, grounded in behavioral science, and designed to help you spot early signs of disengagement and understand what’s driving them.
Disengagement is a warning light—not a verdict. Are you ready to see what’s really going on beneath the surface? Request a free demo with us, and you’ll know!
Sources:
Deloitte: Trendy v oblasti lidského kapitálu 2025
Gallup: Q12® Meta-Analysis Report 2024
McKinsey: Searching for the Soul of Business with Alan Murray
