5 common yet surmountable barriers to engagement

As multiple reports highlight, much of today’s internal communication is missing the mark. Employee engagement continues to fall. This is bad news for staff, and it’s bad news for the bottom line.

What’s fueling this staff detachment and apathy? How can organizations reverse this negative trend and foster a vibrant culture of engagement? Here are five obstacles to contend with:

1. A dispersed workforce makes connection difficult.

According to a report by Global Workplace Analytics, 3.7 million U.S. employees work from home at least half of the time. The number of remote workers worldwide is expected to skyrocket in coming years.

More flexibility is great, but the tradeoff is the loss of valuable watercooler chats and spontaneous team moments. It’s harder for relationships to flourish. Understandably, an employee’s psychological investment in an organization—which is the foundation for engagement—is more tenuous if he or she works from home.