The Rise of the Reluctant Employee (Part II): How to Re-Engage the Ones Who Stay
How leaders can re-ignite purpose, connection, and performance
In Part I, we named the problem: the Reluctant Employee.
Not engaged. Not disengaged. Just there. Basically there to pick up a paycheck and benefits. Often invisible, and frequently contagious.
This isn’t a “lazy people” problem. It’s a broken connection problem.
Before we get to solutions, an important truth: every business is different, and every employee is different. What works in one organization may flop in another. What lights a fire in one person might turn off another.
One of my favorite sayings is “One size fits one.”
So while these recommendations are grounded in research and experience, they’re general starting points — not plug-and-play fixes. The real work is adapting them to fit your people, your culture, and your reality.
So, how do we fix it?
1. Start with the Managers
Engagement starts at the top — and by “top” I mean the person each employee actually reports to.
70% of employee engagement comes from the manager. If they’re checked out, so is the team.
We find that most people in managerial positions have been managers for less than 3 years. They’ve been promoted, but they haven’t been trained in leadership.
What to do:
Train your managers in how to lead. Not once. Not with a PowerPoint. Make it ongoing and practical.
Give them peers and mentors to lean on. Management is lonely without a network.
2. Bring Back Purpose
Most employees don’t quit their job — they quit believing it matters.
What to do:
Reconnect people to the “why.” Not the laminated mission statement — the real one.
Show them the impact of their work. Numbers are fine, but stories stick.
Let employees share wins with each other, not just with the boss.
3. Create Anchor Points
Remote and hybrid work make connection optional — and optional often means absent.
What to do:
Establish “anchor days” for in-person collaboration.
Use them for brainstorming, problem-solving, and celebrating wins.
Protect them from being hijacked by back-to-back status meetings.
4. Provide Autonomy — With Guardrails
People engage more when they have control over their work. But autonomy without clarity creates chaos.
What to do:
Set clear expectations and outcomes, then step back.
Let employees own projects, not just tasks.
Involve them in deciding how the work gets done.
5. Make Feedback a Two-Way Street
You can’t fix apathy if you don’t know where it’s coming from.
What to do:
Conduct “stay interviews” before people disengage.
Act on what you hear — quickly and visibly.
Encourage managers to ask, “What’s one thing we could do better this month?”
6. Recognize the Right Things
High performers burn out faster when effort goes unnoticed.
What to do:
Recognize results, but also recognize the behaviors you want more of.
Make recognition public, specific, and timely.
Don’t wait for annual reviews — find a reason to recognize them now.
7. Stop Promoting Without Preparing
Promotions without training create managers in survival mode — and survival mode kills engagement.
What to do:
Provide coaching for the first 90 days in a new role.
Make leadership readiness part of your talent strategy, not an afterthought.
The Bottom Line
You can’t just “motivate” the Reluctant Employee back into engagement. You have to rebuild the connections — between managers and teams, work and purpose, effort and recognition.
Fix those, and you don’t just re-engage the ones who stayed.
You create a place where people actually want to stay.
Blog Post Title One
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Two
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Three
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Blog Post Title Four
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.