Michael Scott, the hapless regional manager at the center of the American version of “The Office” played by Steve Carell, believed he was the world’s best boss. He even had the mug to prove it.
Meanwhile, for most of the show’s 2005-2013 run, his employees endured pointless meetings, cringed through his speeches and quietly counted the hours until they could leave. The joke worked because so many viewers recognized something universal: the gap between how bosses sees themselves and how workers actually experience them.
That gap is no longer just a sitcom premise. It may be the central reason American workplaces are in trouble.
In the U.S., only about 30% of part-time and full-time employees say they are engaged at work, according to an annual Gallup survey. That’s the lowest level in more than a decade.
Determining whether am employee is engaged boils down to a single question: Does the work matter to the person doing it? Engaged employees are invested in the outcome of their work. Disengaged ones have stopped caring.
