Stop the Drop in Employee Engagement and Well-being
For more than 30 years, Gallup has been measuring employee engagement and well-being.
Their 2025 State of the Global Workplace report shows that only about one-third of employees (33%) worldwide say they are “thriving” in life, a measure of well-being that combines workplace experience with overall life evaluation. That percentage is down from earlier years, a sign that both engagement and well-being continue to slip.
Gallup’s research also shows that engagement has fallen from 23% to 21%. This decline directly impacts organizational performance, as 62% of employees aren’t engaged and 17% are actively disengaged, costing the global economy roughly $438 billion in lost productivity last year. If any of your employees are disengaged, you’re leaving money on the table.
The report tells us that manager engagement hasn’t improved, either. Only 27% of managers worldwide reported feeling engaged, down from 30% a year ago. Since manager engagement influences team engagement, this decline makes it even harder for companies to improve performance and well-being.
These trends reflect a workplace in transition. With remote and hybrid work, differing generational preferences – including rising expectations about purpose and belonging – the challenge of disengagement increases. If leaders don’t act intentionally, disengagement will continue to negatively affect production, engagement, and well-being.
If leaders don’t act intentionally, disengagement will continue to negatively affect production, engagement, and well-being.
What should leaders do? These two practices can help reverse disengagement.
- Provide clarity. Make sure each employee knows what’s expected of them—weekly, quarterly, annually—by discussing and agreeing on their measurable goals. Also, team members will likely need guidance on working with their colleagues. Old approaches that worked fine when everyone was under one roof and everyone was of similar generations need to be updated to accommodate today’s hybrid operations and a younger workforce.
- Provide validation. While learning new ways to work together, team members must be quick, flexible, and cooperative. Our best leaders made sure to express gratitude for treating others with respect, for creative solutions, for fast problem-solving, and for consistent contributions under often uncertain conditions. Leaders must be present and aware so they can recognize efforts, ideas, and actions that meet company goals and impress customers.
Stop clinging to outdated leadership techniques; they don’t work for today’s team members. Model practices that boost clarity and validate employees’ efforts instead. Do this consistently, and engagement and well-being will increase. What can you do differently today to strengthen your work culture?
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