By Lord Mark Price
An engaged workforce drives performance, but dissatisfaction often surfaces quietly. Drawing on 40 years’ experience, Lord Mark Price identifies six warning signs that signal team unhappiness. He outlines his Six Steps to Workplace Happiness: recognition, information, empowerment, wellbeing, pride, and job satisfaction, to restore morale and strengthen organisations.Â
An engaged workforce is a productive workforce but too often, unhappiness creeps into teams unnoticed until it’s too late. In my work with organisations worldwide for over 40 years, I’ve seen how six tell-tale signs can reveal underlying dissatisfaction. Here’s how to spot them and how my Six Steps to Workplace Happiness, from WorkL, the employee engagement platform I founded, can help turn things around.
Employee unhappiness rarely arrives with a grand announcement. It shows itself in subtle ways, such as the once-vocal team member who now stays silent in meetings, the sudden uptick in employees off sick, or the dip in collaboration. Recognising these signs early allows leaders to act decisively. Below, I share six common warning signs, along with practical steps you can take, guided by my Six Steps to Workplace Happiness; reward and recognition, information, empowerment, wellbeing, sense of pride, and job satisfaction.
1. Drop in Productivity
A noticeable decline in performance or output is often one of the first visible signs that something isn’t right. Targets are missed, deadlines slip, or quality falters. While external factors may play a part, consistent underperformance usually reflects disengagement.
What to do
Focus on reward and recognition. People want to feel their efforts are seen and valued. Recognise contributions both publicly and privately. Sometimes a simple “thank you” or acknowledgment of good work goes further than financial reward. By making appreciation part of your daily leadership style, you restore motivation and pride.
2. Increased Absenteeism and Turnover
When employees are unhappy, they disengage physically as well as emotionally. Absenteeism rises, sick days become more frequent, and eventually, people leave. High turnover is costly, not just financially but culturally.
What to do
Focus on wellbeing. Unhappiness often stems from stress, poor work–life balance, or burnout. Leaders must create environments where taking care of mental and physical health is encouraged, not stigmatised. Encourage flexible working, ensure workloads are manageable, and create a supportive culture where people can ask for help.
3. Silence in Meetings
Silence is not golden in the workplace. When employees stop offering ideas, questioning processes, or contributing to discussion, it’s usually a sign of disconnection. It may also mean they don’t feel safe speaking up.
What to do
Prioritise empowerment. Employees thrive when they feel trusted to contribute and make decisions. Invite input, create forums for safe discussion, and make it clear that diverse perspectives are valued. Empowered employees are more engaged, more creative, and more invested in outcomes.
4. A Breakdown in Communication
When gossip replaces open dialogue, or when team members seem left out of the loop, morale suffers. Poor communication is both a symptom and a cause of unhappiness, it signals a lack of transparency and erodes trust.
What to do
Improve information sharing. Leaders often underestimate how much employees want to understand the bigger picture. Be open about company performance, strategy, and challenges. Consistent, honest communication helps employees feel involved and respected. Even when the news isn’t positive, transparency builds trust.
5. Loss of Pride in Work
When employees no longer talk positively about their organisation, or stop recommending it to friends and family, it’s a clear sign of declining engagement. Pride is an emotional anchor, without it, people feel disconnected and uninspired.
What to do
Reinforce a sense of pride. Celebrate successes, share customer stories, and connect individual roles to the bigger mission. Remind people why what they do matters. Pride grows when employees can see the positive impact of their work, both for the business and for wider society.
6. Going Through the Motions
Perhaps the most insidious sign of unhappiness is when employees do only the bare minimum. They show up, complete tasks, and leave, without passion or initiative. This “quiet quitting” reflects a lack of job satisfaction and can spread quickly across a team.
What to do
Revisit roles and responsibilities to ensure they align with employees’ skills and aspirations. Provide opportunities for development, training, and progression. When people feel they are learning and moving forward, satisfaction rises. Encourage managers to have regular career conversations, not just annual reviews.
My Six Steps to Workplace Happiness
When you align leadership practice with the Six Steps to Workplace Happiness, reward and recognition, information, empowerment, wellbeing, sense of pride, and job satisfaction, you create the foundations of an engaged workforce. These aren’t one-off fixes, they’re ongoing commitments.
1. Reward & recognition
Pay must be fair and transparent, or nothing else lands. But don’t wait for annual reviews to say “thank you.” Build weekly recognition rituals tied to outcomes, not presenteeism.
2. Information sharing
Lack of sharing breeds rumour and disengagement. Adopt a “show the work” cadence where a monthly all-hands meeting includes reviewing real metrics, a working roadmap, and team-level dashboard for all to see.
3. Empowerment
Empowering employees means involving them in decision-making, valuing their ideas, and integrating their feedback into the company’s strategies. Everyone brings unique experiences and perspectives to the table, and only by considering all views can a team achieve the best possible outcome.
4. Wellbeing
Employee wellbeing encompasses physical, emotional, and financial health. Addressing all three areas leads to improved engagement and productivity. A positive workplace culture can reduce absenteeism, as engaged employees tend to be healthier and more committed.
5. Instilling pride
Employees who take pride in their work and workplace naturally become advocates, sharing their positive experiences with colleagues, potential hires, customers, and the community. Their pride will be evident when they talk about where they work.
6. Job satisfaction
A range of factors influence job satisfaction, but two stand out; opportunities for personal growth and the quality of the employee-manager relationship. Employees are an organisation’s greatest asset, and high engagement is essential for success.
No team will ever be free from challenges. But as leaders, our responsibility is to ensure those challenges don’t translate into unhappiness and disengagement. By staying alert to the subtle signals and applying the Six Steps to Workplace Happiness, you can transform dissatisfaction into resilience, negativity into purpose, and silence into a stronger, more collaborative voice.
After all, when teams are happier, organisations are stronger and everyone wins.
