Employee Engagement Drops to Its Lowest Level in a Decade

Gallup recently reported that employee engagement in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade.  The data also shows that employees feel increasingly detached from their employers, report less role clarity, have lower satisfaction with their organizations, feel less of a connection to their companies’ mission or purpose, and feel less likely that someone at work cares about them.

U.S. engagement now stands at a mere 30 percent, marking the lowest reported level of engagement since 2013.  The recent drops are most prominent in the following groups:

• Employees under 35 (down five points), particularly Gen Z employees (down six points) who also feel less connected to their organization’s culture.
• Employees who could do their jobs remotely but work exclusively on-site (down six points).
• Employees who exclusively work from home (down five points).

The positive news?  Amid this negative trend, Gallup says, “The best-run organizations that we study are holding their own – or have even improved their cultures – during the challenging past four years during and following the pandemic.”  These top-performing organizations average 70 percent engagement and exist across industries and geographies.

How have these organizations bucked the trend?  By being intentional and building workplace cultures that are strategically planned.  Gallup reports that many have created cultures with clear expectations, supported by managers who combine flexibility with accountability. They also have effective new-employee onboarding programs and holistic approaches to employee wellbeing.

What Can I Do?  As I say in my keynote speech: If you aren’t deliberate about creating an extraordinary culture, you will end up with a culture by chance.  And it will not be pretty; it will be mediocre at best, and we all know that mediocrity does not breed success.  The trick is to strategically understand what employees need in a workplace, tactically build it, and then hold managers accountable for executing the tactical plan.  If your organization could use some help, I’m a phone call away.