Leader Engagement
Is Lack of Leader Engagement Costing Your Business?
According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 report, the economy lost approximately $438 billion due to a decrease in employee engagement.
The same report states that 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. This means leaders directly affect every part of a team's success.
There is no question that it is imperative that organizations ensure their leaders are engaged. Unfortunately, leader engagement has seen the largest drop overall, with young leaders (under 35) and women leaders experiencing the most significant declines.
A Multifaceted Problem
Given that productivity, profitability, customer service, and retention are tied to engagement, this is a risk that business leaders need to actively and intentionally mitigate. Part of what is driving this drop in engagement is that leaders are caught between employee expectations and trying to provide clarity and calm amidst constant disruptions in their organizations.
Typical workplaces have seen disruption at every level:
Post-pandemic retirement and turnover
Hiring busts and booms
Rapidly restructuring teams and departments
Shrinking budgets and engagement programs
Disrupted supply chains
New customer expectations
Digital transformation and AI tools
New employee desires for flexibility and remote work
Leaders are left trying to navigate an increase in business disruption and a decrease in employee engagement, while also reporting that they feel they have less time to invest in their own wellbeing and development. It is no small wonder that leaders experience more negative daily emotions than those they lead.
A Way Forward
The good news is that research has proven that investments and focus on leader engagement, wellbeing, and development, help to unlock improved leader engagement, employee engagement, and business outcomes. For example, leaders who participate in learning regularly see a 20-28% improvement in their performance metrics compared to those who don’t, according to Gallup.
Investing in your leaders is an investment in your business. The right investment provides returns through increased productivity, profitability, engagement, retention, and business outcomes. This means being intentional about the leadership framework, programs, systems, and processes you put in place is important to the success of your business.
Are you confident you are engaging your leaders effectively and mitigating any unnecessary risks to your business?
