The Gallup organization annually surveys the workforce in the United States to determine how ‘engaged’ it is. The past several years have NOT been encouraging. An engaged employee can be defined as someone who loves what they do and is striving to do their very best and continues to grow.

The Gallup numbers for 2012 show that only 30% of the workforce can be described this way; as fully engaged. 52% are Not Engaged and 18% are Actively Disengaged. As Gallup puts it, “The vast majority of US workers (70%) are not reaching their full potential – a problem that has significant implications for the economy and the individual performance of American companies.”

There are a number of factors that are contributing to this sorry state, including bad management, cultures that are controlling or negative and less opportunities for employees to gain ‘skin in the game’. One very big reason is that in many organizations employees really don’t know WHY they (themselves and the company) are doing what they are doing.

The message of Simon Sinek’s book, “Start With WHY”, is primarily that if customers and employees are not able to connect with WHY you do what you do (beliefs, purpose, etc.) then they won’t really care about WHAT it is that you do… or sell. It is the job of leadership to go beyond telling others what they do and how they do it. To really impact customers and gain buy in from employees you must communicate WHY. When employees believe what you do, disengagement will become a thing of the past.