Gallup: Employee engagement ‘is not rocket science’

Gallup estimates that low engagement is burning a hole in global GDP to the tune of $8.8 trillion (or 9% of total earnings), according to its latest global research.

Talking exclusively to UNLEASH, Gallup’s principal partner Anna Sawyer shares the good news that global engagement has risen to a global high of 23% – this is up from 21% in 2022.

While this is great news, the bad news for employers is that Gallup’s survey of 2 million global workers found that a higher proportion (59%) are not engaged (Gallup calls this group the quiet quitters), and 18% are actively disengaged (otherwise know as loud quitters).

A huge, connected problem, according to Gallup, is that employees know this is a good time to find a new job (53%) – this is close to the 2019 high, and a significant increase on the 2022 figure of 45%. Plus 51% are watching out for or actively seeking a new job.

This finding was a big surprise to Sawyer. She tells UNLEASH that this 10% increase in the employee’s perception to their ability to find a new job surprised her because it is happening “despite the tumultuous times we’re currently facing”. Remember, the world is on the brink of a recession and inflation is sky-high across the world.

Interestingly, Gallup’s report found that engagement can be a moat of protection for  resignations, and the huge costs that come with them for businesses.

Gallup’s data shows that when employees are engaged, they require a 31% pay rise to change jobs, but when they are disengaged, this drops to a 22% pay rise.

Credit: Gallup, 2023 State of Global Workplace report.

All of this suggests that employers and HR teams need to make tackling engagement a top priority – the question that remains is: where should they start?

Small changes make a huge difference in engagement

The important message from Gallup is there are lots of easy wins and opportunities for employers to make concrete differences, and stop low engagement impacting business bottom lines and global GDP.

Gallup calls on HR leaders to focus on those 59% of employees (the quiet quitters) are currently not engaged, but also are not yet actively disengaged.

And these quiet quitting employees know what they would change about their workplace – they want a better organizational culture (41%), better pay and benefits (28%) and more of a focus on wellbeing and work-life balance (16%).

The link between wellbeing and engagement is an important takeaway for leaders.

Gallup’s report found that employee stress is at an all-time high – 44% report they experience stress on a daily basis, and the situation is particularly acute in the US, Canada and China. But when employees are engaged, they are less stressed.

Credit: Gallup, 2023 State of Global Workplace report.

Gallup further noted that engagement has 3.8 times as much influence on stress as working location. Employers who are pushing hard for a return to office, be warned: “The office alone has no magic to create a great organizational culture”.

Gallup’s Sawyer shares with UNLEASH that managers have a key role to play in improving worker engagement.

At a Workhuman event in London this week, Ed O’Boyle, global practice leader at Gallup, agreed – he stated, all the technology in the world cannot replace a present manager.

This means that “a key action for HR leaders is to focus on building the capability of managers, so they can better meet the needs of their team members in the workplace”, notes Sawyer.

Sawyer concludes: “This isn’t rocket science. It’s a matter of implementing a simple but effective framework – or check list – of actions that helps managers to see and hear their colleagues, to actively develop their role in a consistent manner.”.

At Workhuman Live London, O’Boyle noted that an easy win around employee engagement is for managers to have one meaningful conversation a week with their team members.

This can be a quick connect, just 15 minutes, and it should be used to celebrate employees and their wins, but also listen to their concerns.