Employee Engagement

Let's talk about employee engagement and wellbeing - why it's breaking and how to fix it, without sacrificing performance

Only 21% of employees are engaged globally, down 2% from last year. That drop cost businesses an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity.

Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report asked: Is the global workplace at breaking point? The answer? Pretty much.

The biggest drop was in manager engagement, especially among under-35s and female managers. Why?

Because managers are caught in a crunch - pressure from above to do more with less, and pressure from below to keep teams engaged and productive. The result? Stress, burnout, sick leave, and resignations. Half of all employees are actively looking to leave.

So what can you do to raise engagement in your organisation?

1. Equip managers to grow their people.

Most managers are promoted for technical skills, not people skills. But once they step up, they’re expected to coach, develop, and lead, without the tools to do it well.

Give them practical frameworks to build trust, grow capability, and create accountability. Strong interpersonal effectiveness is one of the biggest productivity levers you’ve got.

2. Empower People to Solve Their Own Work Frustrations

Ask any employee what slows them down - they’ll have a list! Now imagine saying: “If you find a way to deliver your outcomes in less time, you get to keep that time. And if you’ve got ideas to fix what’s broken, we’ll back you to do it.”

That’s not just empowerment, it’s also motivation. And it’s a powerful way to build engagement.

3. Shift the system, not the individual

If your people surveys keep surfacing the same frustrations, and nothing’s changing, it’s time to zoom out.

People can’t fix chaos alone. You need to change how time is valued across the organisation. When time is treated as a precious resource, people make better decisions about where to spend it

Productivity Tip of the Day

• Free your time - delegate for growth, and avoid learned dependence

• Proactively identify opportunities for your team to take on in order to grow (not just the boring stuff!).

• Do not habitually answer all questions, but ask what solutions they have considered before you discuss.