Employee engagement: A guide for digital workplace managers and practitioners

What is employee engagement?

Gallup calls employee engagement “the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace”. To be highly involved and enthusiastic at work, employees must bring an emotional and cognitive commitment to it. An engaged employee feels valued, empowered and deeply connected to their organization. This sense of belonging inspires loyalty and creates a feeling of wellbeing at work.

Organizations that anchor themselves in purpose, aligning strategy with meaningful work, outperform those that don’t, experience faster growth and have more sustainable impact.¹ Purpose inspires motivation, innovation and active participation at work.

This matters to organizations because strong employee engagement translates into tangible business benefits: improved retention, heightened productivity and a resilient, adaptable workforce.² Employee engagement is the difference between a high-performing organizational culture and one that is faltering.³

Engagement thrives in workplaces designed intentionally for inclusivity, transparency and wellbeing. Creating spaces (both physical and digital) where belonging flourishes and trust is fostered is key to building thriving, connected organizations.

The business case for employee engagement

Employee engagement is not a ‘soft’ HR metric – it is a measurable driver of productivity, profitability and business resilience. Decades of research, now reinforced by Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace 2025² findings, make it clear: engaged employees deliver a tangible return on investment that organizations cannot afford to ignore.

Engagement and productivity

Engaged employees consistently outperform their disengaged colleagues. Companies with high engagement report 20% higher productivity than the global average.² Engaged employees show up with energy, focus and commitment. And 70% of that energy depends on one thing: managers.² Leadership is the amplifier.

Engagement and retention

Disengaged employees tend to drift. Gallup research reports that half of employees are already scanning the horizon for a new job – a churn risk that directly impacts recruitment costs, institutional knowledge and team cohesion.² Turnover is expensive: estimates suggest that the cost of replacing an employee is between 50% to 200% of their annual salary⁴, not to mention the cost of knowledge loss to the company when people leave, as well as the potential losses and misses while a new hire is learning the ropes. Yet organizations with strong engagement cut turnover by nearly half.²

Engagement and profitability

Engagement pays dividends directly to the bottom line. Analysis by Gallup shows that highly engaged business units achieve 23% higher profitability compared with those in the bottom quartile. They also see 10% higher customer loyalty and up to 18% higher sales productivity.²

The multiplier effect

Employee engagement creates a reinforcing cycle: engaged employees are more productive and innovative, which drives customer satisfaction and business growth, which in turn fosters pride and commitment in employees. When leaders invest in management training, effective coaching and recognition programmes, they not only boost performance metrics but also increase manager wellbeing, creating sustainable performance gains.²

When employees thrive, customers feel it, business grows and pride deepens. Leaders who invest in coaching, recognition and trust don’t just raise performance, they empower people.

How can you tell if employees are engaged?

Disillusioned, disrespected, disregarded: this is how it feels to be disengaged at work. There is a sense of being present in body but absent in spirit – drifting, disconnected, waiting for something to ignite meaning. Disengaged employees often describe work as a cycle of going through the motions. Tasks are completed, meetings attended, but there is no sensation of energy or drive. Even when they are part of a team, there is a feeling of distance: colleagues talk, decisions are made, but their voice feels muted. They contribute less because they no longer believe their ideas matter.

One of the most resonant themes is the search for connection – a desire to feel anchored in purpose. In disengagement, the absence of purpose is stark. Work becomes transactional. Without a sense of impact or recognition, even once-loved roles can feel hollow.

The emotional toll on an employee is heavy: they can feel drained, unmotivated or even invisible. Often, the burnout is slow and subtle.

But re-engagement is possible. When leaders listen, recognize and connect employees to purpose, the silence is replaced with resonance. Energy returns, meaning is rediscovered and employees once again feel like they are part of something.

Engaged employees look different:

• They move with vigour – energy, resilience, persistence.
• They show dedication – pride, meaning, enthusiasm.
• They find absorption – they are so immersed in work that time slips away.

You see it in attitudes: positivity, reliability, collaboration and accountability. You hear it in advocacy: people who are proud to work here, who recommend it to others. People stay with the company.⁵ You feel it in the culture: teams exceeding goals, showing up fully, not just filling space.

Engagement is visible. It is energy, ownership and pride turned outwards.⁶

Summary of engagement indicators

Drivers of employee engagement

Engagement doesn’t happen by accident, it is cultivated. Eight drivers stand out as the strongest signals.

1. Leadership and management: Leadership is consistently identified as one of the most powerful drivers of employee engagement. Qualities that stand out are trust, clarity and vision.⁷ Gallup data confirms that 70% of employee engagement lives – and dies – with managers.
2. Recognition and reward: To be seen is to matter. Employees who receive meaningful recognition are far more likely to be engaged and less likely to leave.
3. Career development: Opportunities for learning, mentoring and mobility keep people invested and motivated.⁸
4. Communication and transparency: Poor communication erodes trust. Clear, open, two-way communication builds connection.⁷
5. Autonomy and purpose: Freedom to shape their own work leads to higher job satisfaction and greater engagement. This is amplified when it is connected to purpose.
6. Workplace culture and values: When values match action, trust and belonging grow. Cultures that emphasize inclusion, respect and ethical conduct tend to enjoy higher engagement and retention.
7. Work–life balance: Flexible schedules, hybrid working arrangements and supportive policies help employees to manage personal and professional demands. Organizations offering attractive work–life balance programmes see improved morale and reduced burnout.⁹
8. Feedback and performance management: Regular, constructive feedback reinforces progress, clarifies expectations and addresses challenges early.

These drivers are not isolated – they reinforce each other, creating an ecosystem where engagement becomes the norm, not the exception.

Measuring engagement

Measuring employee engagement is essential for translating culture and sentiment into actionable insights. Employee engagement is multidimensional, so measurement must capture both numbers and nuance.

Key metrics and KPIs

The best way to measure engagement is to ensure the metrics cover both outcomes (e.g. retention, productivity) and enablers (e.g. recognition, leadership quality). Research highlights the following common key performance indicators (KPIs) for engagement:

• ENPS (Employee Net Promoter Score): The ENPS measures the likelihood of employees recommending their workplace to others.
• Turnover and retention rates: Since engaged employees are less likely to leave, a high turnover often signals disengagement.
• Absenteeism: Engaged employees are absent from work less. Hence, lower absenteeism is a reliable indicator of higher engagement.

While there are many options available, Microsoft’s suite of tools, including SharePoint and Viva, are widely used in enterprises and offer strong integration with familiar productivity applications. Organizations should focus on finding a solution that fits their unique culture and workflow needs, rather than just chasing the latest features. A well-chosen platform becomes more than a repository for information – it fosters engagement, supports knowledge sharing and enhances collaboration across the organization.

Engagement surveys: types, frequency, best practices

Surveys are a widely used tool for measuring employee engagement. They take on different forms and should be deployed using best practices to avoid survey fatigue.

• Annual engagement surveys: Provide a 'big picture’ snapshot of organizational health.
• Pulse surveys: These are short, frequent (weekly, monthly or quarterly) surveys tracking current sentiment. They are especially effective in times of change.
• Lifecycle surveys: Typically deployed at specific stages of the employee lifecycle, such as onboarding, return-to-work (e.g. after parental leave) and exit surveys. They help identify points of disengagement across the employee journey.

Qualitative listening

Surveys should be complemented with qualitative measuring approaches that capture nuance and sentiment. Common qualitative approaches include:

• Focus groups: These provide depth and context to survey results, uncovering the reasons for the scores.
• Interviews: Interviews are useful in smaller organizations or teams where more personal dialogue can reveal unique insights.
• Digital listening tools: Monitoring open-ended feedback from collaboration platforms (e.g. Viva Engage, Slack) can highlight emerging themes.

Qualitative methods are especially valuable for identifying barriers (e.g. poor leadership, inadequate communication) that the hard numbers alone may not reveal.

Interpreting engagement data

Collecting engagement data is valuable only if it is interpreted and acted upon.

• Look for trends: Engagement is dynamic; track changes over time rather than focusing on snapshots in time.
• Segment data by group: Break down results by department, role, grade or demographic to identify patterns.
• Balance leading and lagging indicators: Engagement scores (leading) should be examined alongside outcomes such as turnover, productivity and customer satisfaction (lagging).
• Contextualize with organizational culture: Numbers should be interpreted relative to the organization’s purpose and values. What signals disengagement in one organization may not in another.
• Close the loop: Share results with employees, outline planned actions and report on progress. This builds trust and strengthens engagement.

Strategies for employee engagement

Onboarding and early engagement

Engagement starts before day one. Structured onboarding helps employees to understand the organizational culture, expectations and their role in driving company goals, reducing early attrition and improving long-term commitment.¹⁰ Communicate early, assign mentors and check in often.¹¹

Trust and inclusion

Create spaces of psychological safety where every voice can be heard. A culture of trust empowers employees to take risks, voice concerns and contribute authentically.

Empowered leadership

Train managers to coach, listen and connect. Leaders who adopt a servant-leadership approach – prioritizing the growth and wellbeing of employees – help sustain engagement, particularly in hybrid and fast-changing workplaces. Continuous training and 360-degree feedback systems ensure that leaders stay accountable for fostering engagement.

Recognition and reward

Recognition is among the most powerful drivers of engagement and retention. Effective programmes go beyond monetary rewards: personalized recognition, peer-to-peer acknowledgements and transparent reward criteria increase perceptions of fairness and meaning.¹²

Growth pathways

Show your people they have a future in your organization. Utilize learning platforms, stretch assignments, internal mobility and mentorship to signal long-term investment in your workforce.

Communication and collaboration

Transparent, two-way communication is a critical enabler of engagement. Internal communication platforms, town halls and digital collaboration tools can support ongoing dialogue and knowledge sharing. When combined with a collaborative workplace culture, communication fosters inclusion, innovation and alignment with strategic goals.

The role of leadership and managers

Engagement starts at the top

Employee engagement is fundamentally shaped by leadership. Leaders who care, empathize and build trust create teams that are engaged, productive and resilient. In essence, engagement is not a grassroots employee phenomenon; it begins at the executive level and cascades downwards through leaders who model purpose, clarity and care.

Manager behaviours that matter

Several specific leadership behaviours have been empirically linked to stronger engagement. Empathy, clear communication of purpose, building trust, connecting work to impact and offering recognition all contribute to greater employee engagement.

Training and support

Even the best-intentioned managers struggle without proper support. Only 44% of managers report having received formal management training, placing them – and their teams – at risk of reduced engagement and increased burnout.^13,14 Upskilling managers in coaching, authentic leadership and data-driven people practices is essential.

Summary: Leadership catalysts for engagement

Leaders and managers influence emotional and psychological connection – the lifeblood of sustained engagement. Leading effectively requires empathy, clarity of purpose, authenticity and support. When organizations invest in these leadership behaviours and the systems that support them, engagement ripples outward, and performance follows.

Improving employee engagement

Improvement is less about grand gestures and more about sustained, continuous practice.

• Start strong with onboarding: Design onboarding programmes that not only clarify roles but also embed organizational values, purpose and culture.
• Build trust through inclusion and transparency: Encourage leaders to share both successes and failures openly, involve employees in decision making and ensure visible alignment between stated values and organizational practices.
• Empower leaders and managers: Encourage managers to connect employees’ work to organizational purpose and customer impact.
• Foster communication and collaboration: Use a mix of town halls, digital platforms and team huddles. Encourage dialogue, not just top-down updates. Track communication metrics (e.g. intranet engagement, feedback participation) to monitor effectiveness.
• Feedback and continuous listening: Close the feedback loop by visibly acting on results and communicating changes to employees.

Case studies

1. Cisco: Purpose as anchor

Cisco provides a clear example of how redefining organizational purpose can strengthen engagement. Cisco re-anchored its culture around the idea of being a purpose-driven technology company, emphasizing social impact and employee empowerment. This shift involved open communication, leadership role-modelling and active involvement of employees in shaping purpose narratives. Engagement deepened because people felt their work mattered.

(Source: DWG. Cisco: How to reimagine purpose for a Silicon Valley icon)

2. Adobe: Replacing annual reviews with conversations

Adobe’s transition away from annual performance reviews toward ongoing ‘check-ins’ has become a benchmark engagement practice, cited in CIPD and Gallup case materials. By replacing rigid rankings with continuous dialogue, Adobe empowered managers to have regular conversations about goals, development and feedback.

(Source: Adobe. How Adobe continues to inspire great performance and support career growth)

Microsoft: Lessons from forced rankings

Not all approaches succeed. Microsoft’s use of the ‘vitality curve’ or forced ranking system (where managers had to grade employees against each other) is widely cited as a failed engagement strategy. According to IES and Gallup’s leadership research, the system fostered internal competition, eroded collaboration and damaged trust between managers and employees. Engagement scores declined, innovation slowed and Microsoft eventually abandoned the practice.

(Source: Sri Handayani, Medium. The Bell Curve Trap: What we can learn from Microsoft’s failed experiment in forced ranking)

Key takeaways

• Purpose alignment (Cisco) boosts meaning and collaboration.
• Continuous feedback (Adobe) drives satisfaction and retention.
• Toxic performance systems (Microsoft) erode engagement, showing the importance of trust and fairness.

Conclusion

Engagement is the rhythm of work – the pulse that turns tasks into purpose and jobs into journeys.

When it is absent, the silence is heavy: people drift, performance stalls, culture fades. But when leaders listen, recognize and connect, the silence is replaced with resonance. Work becomes more than just hours logged; it becomes meaningful and energizes both people and organizations.

The call is simple: don’t let the music fade. Invest in employee engagement – it is good for people and profit.

¹DWG, Rewilding Work with Paul Miller. Cisco: How to reimagine purpose for a Silicon Valley icon
²Gallup. State of the Global Workforce: Engagement recedes for the first time in four years
³Gallup. What is employee engagement, and how do you improve it?
⁴Sparkbay. The business case for employee engagement
⁵PeopleThriver. Five indicators of high engagement in a workplace
⁶Top Workplaces. 14 signs & behaviors of engaged employees
⁷Madhura Bedarkar & Deepika Pandita, Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences. A study on the drivers of employee engagement impacting employee performance
⁸Korn Ferry. 5 drivers of employee engagement that work
⁹Institute for Employment Studies. Report summary: The drivers of employee engagement
¹⁰Solomon Kompaso & Sandhya Sridevi, International Journal of Business and Management. Employee engagement: The key to improving performance
¹¹CIPD. Employee engagement and motivation
¹²Joseph McManus & Joseph Mosca, International Journal of Management & Information Systems. Strategies to build trust and improve employee engagement.
¹³Ray A Smith, The Wall Street Journal. Why are managers so miserable at work?
¹⁴Financial Times. Happy managers = happy staff

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