Colleges and universities are no strangers to financial pressure. From declining enrollment to budget cuts, leaders are asked to do more with less. While much attention is given to external challenges, internal ones can be equally damaging. One of the most costly—and often overlooked—issues is employee disengagement.
When faculty and staff are disengaged, the impact ripples through the entire institution. Productivity suffers, morale drops, turnover rises, and ultimately, student outcomes are compromised. For higher education leaders, understanding and addressing disengagement is not optional—it’s essential.
What Does Disengagement Look Like?
Disengagement doesn’t always announce itself in obvious ways. In many cases, it manifests quietly:
- Faculty who stop pursuing innovative teaching methods.
- Staff who do the bare minimum without seeking improvement.
- Employees who mentally “check out” long before they formally resign.
These behaviors might not immediately register in performance reviews, but over time they erode institutional culture and outcomes.
The Financial Cost of Disengagement
Turnover is one of the most direct costs of disengagement. Research shows replacing an employee can cost 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary when factoring in recruitment, training, and lost productivity. In higher education, these costs are amplified by the specialized nature of faculty and staff roles.
Faculty Turnover
Replacing a tenured or tenure-track professor is expensive, not only in recruitment but also in the disruption to students and research projects. Disengagement often leads to faculty leaving for other institutions where they feel more supported or valued.
Staff Turnover
Administrative staff play a critical role in keeping universities running smoothly. When disengaged staff leave, their institutional knowledge and relationships with students are lost, creating costly inefficiencies.
Hidden Costs
Beyond turnover, disengagement incurs hidden costs:
- Absenteeism: Disengaged employees are more likely to take unplanned leave.
- Presenteeism: Even when present, they may contribute less effectively.
- Lower student satisfaction: Faculty disengagement can directly impact student learning experiences.
The Cultural Cost of Disengagement
Financial losses are only part of the story. Disengagement also erodes the culture of a university:
- Collaboration suffers: Disengaged employees are less likely to contribute to team projects or cross-departmental initiatives.
- Morale declines: When a critical mass of employees is disengaged, it lowers morale across the institution.
- Leadership credibility weakens: If disengagement goes unaddressed, faculty and staff lose confidence in leadership’s commitment to their needs.
Over time, these cultural issues can make it difficult to attract and retain talent.
The Impact on Students
Ultimately, disengagement affects the very people higher education serves—students. Faculty disengagement can reduce the quality of teaching and advising, while staff disengagement can undermine student services such as financial aid, housing, and career counseling. Students who experience these gaps may be less likely to persist or recommend the institution to others.
Why Traditional Approaches Fall Short
Many universities rely on annual satisfaction surveys to measure employee sentiment. While these tools provide a broad picture, they often fail to uncover the deeper drivers of disengagement. For example, a faculty member may report satisfaction with pay but feel disconnected from leadership. Without measuring engagement directly, leaders miss opportunities to intervene.
How apc’s exg™ Helps Address Disengagement
The Employee Experience Grade (exg™) provides institutions with a proven, comprehensive way to measure engagement across the employee lifecycle. By using exg™, higher education leaders can:
- Identify early warning signs: Pulse surveys highlight disengagement before it becomes a turnover issue.
- Pinpoint root causes: Customizable survey modules reveal whether disengagement stems from leadership, workload, recognition, or other factors.
- Take targeted action: Instead of relying on generic fixes, leaders can implement specific strategies to improve faculty and staff experiences.
Key exg™ Tools That Target Disengagement
- New Hire and Post-Onboarding Surveys: Identify gaps that cause early attrition.
- Pulse Surveys: Provide real-time feedback on morale and engagement.
- Exit Surveys: Reveal why employees leave and how to prevent similar issues in the future.
- Benchmarking: Compare your institution’s engagement levels to peers, providing context for improvement.
Case Example: Reducing Staff Turnover
A regional university noticed rising turnover among its student services staff. Traditional satisfaction surveys showed pay was adequate, leaving leadership uncertain about the root cause. After implementing exg™, results revealed that staff felt disconnected from decision-making and lacked professional growth opportunities.
In response, the university introduced professional development programs and created staff advisory councils. Within 12 months, turnover declined by 20%, and student satisfaction scores improved significantly.
The Long-Term Benefits of Measuring Engagement
Addressing disengagement is not just about preventing turnover—it’s about building resilience for the future. Institutions that proactively measure engagement with tools like exg™ see benefits including:
- Higher retention: Employees who feel engaged are more likely to stay.
- Improved performance: Engagement fuels innovation in both teaching and operations.
- Stronger reputation: Engaged employees become advocates, strengthening recruitment and branding efforts.
Final Thoughts
The cost of disengagement in higher education is far too high to ignore. From financial losses to cultural erosion and student impact, disengagement touches every corner of a university. Traditional satisfaction surveys simply cannot capture the complexity of this issue.
apc’s Employee Engagement Surveys powered by exg™ provide the visibility and insights needed to identify disengagement, understand its causes, and implement solutions that work. By investing in engagement now, institutions can secure stronger outcomes for faculty, staff, and students alike.
Don’t let disengagement erode your institution’s success. Get started with apc’s Employee Engagement Surveys powered by exg™ today.
