I’ve worked in employee experience long enough to see the engagement conversation come and go in waves. It’s a topic that resurfaces every few years under a new name (such as motivation, culture, or belonging) but the core challenge never changes:
People want to feel connected to their work and valued by the organizations they choose to join.
The state of engagement today
According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025, only 34% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, roughly the same level as before the pandemic. That means two-thirds of employees are either quietly disengaged or actively pulling away from their companies. Gallup estimates this costs U.S. organizations nearly $1.9 trillion in lost productivity each year.
At the same time, SHRM’s 2025 Employee Experience Benchmark reports that nearly half of workers are job-searching in any given quarter, and Deloitte’s latest research finds that trust in leadership is now one of the top three predictors of engagement, alongside career growth and purpose.
The takeaway? Engagement is no longer a “soft” metric. It’s a strategic predictor of retention, performance, and even brand reputation.
What we’ve learned about what really drives engagement
When Gallup first introduced its 12 Elements of Engagement, the list read like a blueprint for great management. Eight years later, those same principles still hold up, but how we deliver on them has evolved.
At Click Boarding, we group those drivers into four themes that make engagement easier to act on:
Enablement
People can’t be engaged if they can’t do their jobs well. Fostering the right environment still matters.
First, set clear expectations. Confusion only breeds frustration, and having an open-door policy where staff can gain clarity is vital.
Second, reduce the noise. Frankly, there’s a lot of teams simply overwhelmed with the amount of processes, data, and technology they’re inundated with to do their job. Do they have the right infrastructure, or just what they inherited? Don’t be afraid to ask your teams what they truly use – and what’s causing chaos.
And finally, do you know what each employee’s strengths are? If so, are they using them on a daily basis? Gallup found those that do are 6x more engaged!
Connection
Engagement thrives on human connection with peers, managers, and purpose.
- Recognize contributions. Employees who feel recognized are twice as likely to stay another year. Recognition doesn’t have to be loud; it just has to be sincere and specific.
- Show you care. Gallup still finds that only four in ten employees strongly agree that someone at work cares about them as a person. Eye contact, empathy, and follow-through go further than programs ever will.
- Foster friendships. The phrase “a best friend at work” isn’t fluff. Strong social bonds increase collaboration, creativity, and resilience.
With so many hybrid or virtual workforces, that sense of community can be challenging. But really, it just means you need to be more intentional in creating it, whether through fun virtual events, occasional in-person gatherings, and/or creating an atmosphere that welcomes a GIF war in your Teams or Slack channel. There’s always a way!
Growth
The number-one reason people leave a job today isn’t pay, but a lack of development opportunities.
So we, as people leaders, need to encourage continuous learning. That includes investment in the ways that best-fit your staff; for some, in-person events might be the best path forward, while mentorship, self-service certification programs, or paid communities might be better for others.
And your feedback is crucial. Too often, I’ve heard of companies that encourage managers to give feedback only on annual reviews. Talk about wasted potential! Why wouldn’t you create a continuous feedback loop so both manager and employee are improving throughout the year? (Not to mention it can lead to discouraged employees if the annual feedback isn’t what they expected.)
Purpose
Finally, engagement sticks when employees understand why their work matters.
What are the target outcomes you’re working towards? What’s your company’s mission, and how does the plan your team is working on together supporting that?
It’s not always obvious. It’s up to people leaders, with HR supporting them, to drive these conversations.
In addition, quality as a shared value matters. When people see that their coworkers care about doing great work, accountability and pride naturally follow.
Consistency, not complexity, is what sustains engagement.
Engagement starts before Day One
One of the biggest shifts we’ve seen is that engagement now begins long before an employee’s first day.
Preboarding and onboarding aren’t just administrative checklists; they’re emotional first impressions. When a new hire logs into your system for the first time, they’re already deciding whether they made the right choice. Every communication, every login, every welcome message, every bit of clarity about what comes next and shapes their sense of belonging.
We’ve seen organizations cut early turnover by more than 60% simply by personalizing the onboarding experience, setting expectations clearly, and connecting new hires to their managers and peers immediately.
When people feel welcomed, prepared, and supported from the start, engagement becomes the default … not the goal.
How leaders can act now
Improving engagement doesn’t require a new HR initiative; it requires intention. Start small and stay consistent.
- Ask and listen. Pulse surveys and one-on-ones reveal what matters most right now.
- Remove friction. Simplify processes that frustrate employees from IT access to approvals.
- Coach, don’t manage. Replace control with curiosity. Ask, “What do you need to do your best work?”
- Celebrate progress. Recognition is free, and consistency compounds.
My reflection on engagement
Employee engagement isn’t about programs or perks. It’s about relationships.
When people feel seen, supported, and trusted, they give more of themselves. They become advocates, innovators, and culture carriers.
If we want engagement to improve, we can’t treat it as a once-a-year metric; it must be woven into how we welcome people, develop them, and connect their daily work to something bigger.
At Click Boarding, we support this with best-in-class experiences that start before day one and support their entire lifecycle – because how you bring people in and then follow-up determines how long and how well they stay.
