When employees quit, they can do so one of two ways – they can quit and leave or they can quit and stay. Which is worse, you ask? As leadership guru Rodger Dean Duncan so eloquently stated,“an organization pays a heavy price when its bright, capable people quit and leave. But it’s even more costly when bright, capable people quit and stay.”

The reality today, with unemployment still hovering around 10%, housing prices down and overall economic uncertainty, many of those who would quit and leave, now quit and stay. So, while a desk may be occupied, these employees have long checked out, are doing “fake work” and are no longer engaged.

So, what are you, as a business owner or manager to do? The truth of the matter is, these “fake workers” are not happy about their situation and truly want to contribute to the organization. They key is getting them back on board and motivated. Getting them aligned with your organization and becoming valued and valuable once again.

As the economy continues to evolve in 2011, it is more critical than ever to look at all of your employees, create profiles and discern who is engaged, who is disengaged, who you truly want on board moving forward and who can go. By identifying quality people who may have quit and stayed, you can work towards getting them reinvigorated, reengaged and have them adding value to the bottom line again or if that is not possible, they need to go.  In the end, you, as a business owner will be better off and so will they.