𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 rarely collapses all at once. It 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬.
It fades when feedback is postponed until review time.
When one-on-ones turn into status updates instead of conversations.
When effort goes unrecognized because “they know I appreciate them.”
𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞. People just stop trying as hard when it feels like no one notices or nothing changes.
Gallup research shows that 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (Gallup, 𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 6 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑡𝘩𝑠 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝐶𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔-𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑚 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 2018). Those early
moments set the tone for whether people feel connected, valued, and seen, or whether they begin to pull back.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬
𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬.
𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.
𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝.
𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 , 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 . 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐩. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬?