If you’re finding changing employee expectations tricky to navigate, you’re not alone, and the latest findings in a major survey illustrate a worrying downward trend in employee engagement. Rachel Hannan from our Consulting team explores the report’s key themes and what can be done to reverse this.
Employee Engagement
Each year, Gallup undertakes one of the largest employee engagement surveys of its kind, and the 2025 ‘State of the Global Workforce’ report has just landed. It’s not good news for employers.
It shows that for the first time since the pandemic, employee engagement levels have fallen, with an estimated cost of US$438 billion in lost productivity as a result.
While it’s tempting to dismiss patterns in the global workforce as being somewhat remote from our own employees, unfortunately, it’s a message we can’t ignore. The report shows that in the UK, only 10% of the thousands of employees surveyed reported that they feel ‘engaged’ in their work, compared to a global average of 21%.
So why are engagement levels important?
While there is no simple, agreed definition of the term, the impact of low engagement is clear – poor levels of motivation and commitment, a lack of enthusiasm and focus, and perceived feelings of stress and burnout. All of which lead to lower productivity, and we often hear from clients it can feel increasingly challenging to navigate changing employee expectations, with management approaches that worked previously seemingly becoming less effective.
In short, when employees are engaged, they perform better. They are absent less and produce more. They build better customer relationships and achieve more sales.
And we know that what impacts on employee engagement levels the most is their manager.
Which is where there’s even worse news. The survey also showed it is Managers whose engagement levels have dipped the most.
In the last 5 years many companies have been wrestling with challenges as many and varied as post-pandemic retirements and employee turnover, broader workforce changes and ever evolving employee expectations around flexibility and remote working, new customer expectations and disrupted supply chains, not to mention digital transformation and the increasing impact of AI.
Managers and Senior Managers have been at the sharp end of juggling these competing demands, sandwiched between the expectations of the Board and the workforce, and we’re starting to see the impact. Plus, Manager engagement disproportionately affects team engagement, which further affects productivity and business performance.
Gallup estimates that if the world’s workforce was fully engaged, US$9.6 trillion in productivity could be added to the global economy, the equivalent of an additional 9% in global GDP.
While heady figures such as these might seem somewhat disconnected to our own business, the possibility of increased productivity driven by more committed, enthusiastic and motivated teams is far more within reach.
So, how can your business buck the trend?
Gallup’s conclusion was that companies need to take action in 3 allied areas to reverse the trend and improve engagement – and crucially increase productivity;
- Ensure managers at all levels receive training. They found less than half of Managers said they have received management training. This impacts not only on their ability to lead and manage effectively to get higher levels of performance from their team, but also on their own level of confidence, motivation and engagement.
- Teach managers effective coaching techniques to boost both Manager and team performance. Some managers have a natural gift for inspiring and developing people, but many do not, and the good news is that effective coaching can be taught.
- Increase manager wellbeing through ongoing Manager development. Training is not the only solution. When combined with someone at work actively encouraging their development, Managers’ engagement levels increase, and so does the performance of their team. Coaching and mentoring from senior leaders, as well as opportunities for their career path and skill development being highlighted, were shown to be highly effective in improving Managers’ engagement and retaining them in the business.
In summary – good leadership and proactive management is key. Senior Managers who;
- provide clarity about overall company goals and where their team’s contribution fits in,
- give useful and constructive feedback and develop their teams,
- use coaching techniques to further develop skills, performance and motivation,
- and take the time to get to know their team members…
…achieve far greater productivity levels from their teams, and have improved personal job satisfaction.
And BHP can help.
Our Consulting team have been delivering our Business Leadership Academy for 8 years now, and repeat bookings from companies over time as they promote new Senior Managers tells us this is a programme that delivers.
Many Senior Managers in small and medium size companies have historically learnt on the job. But in today’s rapidly evolving, ever demanding business environment, Senior Managers and newly appointed Directors benefit hugely from the opportunity to access this up to date, real world training. It not only shares the latest leadership and management techniques, skills and approaches that have the biggest positive impact on team performance and engagement, but also covers broader business skills to enable your Senior Managers to be more effective in driving growth and navigating change. These range from strategy and planning to effective prioritisation, staying agile, thinking commercially, and ensuring resources are deployed to maximise performance, plus developing the right structures, systems and processes to support the business as it scales. And as it’s delivered by someone who not only has a professional background in leadership and management development, but who has also scaled a business to become a £multi-million market leader, I understand first-hand the challenges and opportunities of growing a business and getting the most out of your Managers and workforce.
If you want to know more about our Business Leadership Academy, or explore if it might be useful for any of your Senior Managers, then get in touch at Rachel.Hannan@bhp.co.uk
