A new survey from Gallup found that a large share of workers do not feel engaged at work, with the number of "actively disengaged" workers increasing in recent years and the number of workers who are "not engaged" remaining relatively stable, Andrea Hsu writes for NPR.

Employee engagement is declining

In the 2022 Gallup survey, researchers polled around 67,000 individuals. To measure worker engagement, Gallup asked workers a series of questions, including:

• Does the employee understand what is expected of them at work?
• Do their opinions seem to count?
• Do they have opportunities to do what they do best?
• Do they have a best friend at work?

Among the workers in Gallup's survey, only 32% said they were engaged with their work—a decline from 36% in 2020.

Meanwhile, the share of workers that are "actively disengaged" has increased since 2020, and the share of workers that fell in between, saying they were "not engaged" at work, has remained relatively stable.

What is driving the drop in employee engagement?

There has been a large decline in engagement among younger workers. Overall, workers under 35 said they felt less heard and less cared about in the workplace. In addition, fewer Gen Zers and young millennials said they have a colleague or mentor who encourages their development and fewer opportunities for growth and development.

"There's a growing disconnect between employee [and] employer. You could almost equate it to employees becoming a little bit more like gig workers," said Jim Harter, chief workplace scientist at Gallup and author of the new report.

"Gig work by its nature doesn't lend itself to loyalty or long-term relationships between employees and employers," Hsu writes. "Workers may feel less motivated to put their best selves forward."

"In the context of high-performance customer service, retaining your best people, that's a problem," Harter noted.

When employees are actively disengaged, companies often face detrimental consequences. According to Harter, employees who are not getting most of their needs met in the workplace tend to voice their negativity to others, potentially impacting company morale.

While engagement declined across a wide range of workers, the largest declines were reported among what Gallup calls "remote-ready onsite workers," or workers who could perform their job at home but are working in the office.

How can companies address worker engagement?

Stephanie Frias, chief people officer at Lyra Health, said she believes companies are experiencing a reckoning, citing high turnover rates and an increase in workers who are "quiet quitting."

"I think companies are realizing that this is key — for people to feel engaged and connected at work," Frias said.

Lyra Health, which provides mental health services to other companies, is working to train leaders to notice and respond to workplace issues that often have a negative impact on engagement.

According to Frias, this is a dynamic process—what worked during the COVID-19 pandemic may not necessarily work now. "Workers today want to engage with work, but in a way that's convenient and palatable to their lifestyles," Hsu writes.

"It will be a journey and a ride," Frias noted.

Separately, Harter noted that the role of managers increased significantly during the pandemic. Typically, they are tasked with ensuring that employees understand what is expected of them and helping them feel cared for.

"Managers will figure out the idiosyncrasies of each person they manage," Harter said. "They're the only one that's close enough to do that." (Hsu, NPR, 1/25)