Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2025 Report reveals a worrying trend:
Global employee engagement fell in 2024, alongside employee well-being, hampering productivity and innovation across industries. The report paints a sobering picture, but it also offers leaders a pathway to change.
Here are key insights leaders need to address:
💡Engagement Decline: Global employee engagement dropped from 23% to 21%, costing the world economy $438 billion in lost productivity. Managers, especially younger and female leaders, faced the sharpest decline.
💡Well-being Challenges: Global employee well-being fell for a second year, influenced by workplace experiences and life satisfaction. Thriving employees are significantly more engaged at work.
💡Economic Potential: Gallup estimates that $9.6 trillion in productivity could be unlocked globally if workplaces achieved full engagement, equivalent to 9% of global GDP.
💡Leadership Opportunity: Redefining managerial and leadership roles, by focusing on performance coaching, building trust and psychological safety could transform team outcomes and workplace culture.
Actions and Solutions for Leaders
✅Redefine Managerial Roles: Managers are at the heart of employee engagement and well-being, but they’re increasingly squeezed by competing demands. Leaders should rethink traditional managerial responsibilities, focusing on performance coaching and empowering managers to be catalysts for growth and productivity. For example:
Shift managers’ priorities from administrative tasks to building strong team connections and fostering professional development.
Provide tools and frameworks for effective coaching conversations, helping managers support individual and team performance.
✅Prioritise Manager Development: Training and development are essential to equip managers with the skills needed for today’s dynamic workplace. Gallup’s research shows that organisations investing in best-practice training achieve substantial improvements in engagement and productivity. Consider:
Implementing structured manager training programs that emphasize communication, recognition, and adaptability.
Setting clear performance metrics to help managers track and enhance team engagement.
✅Embrace Flexibility: Workplace flexibility is more than a trend; it’s a necessity shaped by employees’ pandemic experiences. Leaders should:
Offer hybrid and remote work options wherever feasible to meet employees’ evolving demands.
Invest in technology and policies that support seamless collaboration across flexible work models.
✅Foster a Culture of Recognition: Recognition is a powerful driver of engagement and well-being. Leaders can:
Celebrate achievements and contributions regularly, both big and small.
Implement recognition programs tied to organisational values and goals.
✅Link Engagement to Strategy: Employee engagement shouldn’t be an isolated initiative—it must align with the organisation’s broader strategy. Leaders should:
Integrate engagement goals into performance and growth plans.
Regularly measure engagement and use data-driven insights to inform decisions.
Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace key stats
Moving Forward
The future of global productivity depends on creating workplaces where employees feel engaged and valued. By redefining managerial into leadership roles, investing in development, and fostering flexibility and recognition, leaders can unlock the full potential of their workforce—and with it, trillions in economic value.
How are you advancing engagement and well-being in your organisation? Let’s spark change together.
Want this for your business, talk to TrustWorki now and together we can spark wonderful cultures of vibrant employee engagement.. because trust works.
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