Employee engagement is a big deal. And it’s not just because it helps you retain employees.
The Gallup 2026 State of the Global Workplace report says that only 31% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, which is an 11-year low. In fact, the global economy lost $10 trillion in productivity in 2024 due to low employee engagement, equivalent to 9% of global GDP. There’s also plenty of evidence that high employee engagement leads to higher profitability and lower turnover. For example, organizations in the top quartile for employee engagement were 23% more profitable than those in the bottom quartile, and had 51% lower turnover at low-turnover organizations. They also had a 14% production-based productivity difference between them.
So what exactly is “employee engagement”? Some companies use the term loosely, referring to anything from free food to company events. But there’s a real difference between a one-off perk and a strategy that actually improves engagement. The Gallup definition is helpful here: “Employee engagement is when employees are emotionally connected to their work and their organization. It is a state of mind where people feel passionate about their jobs, committed to their organization, and believe that their work matters.”
In other words, engagement is a structured practice — it involves programs, behaviors, and management practices. It’s not just something that happens on its own. A good engagement strategy addresses both structural conditions (like clarity of role, access to development, and quality of management) and relational conditions (like feeling seen, valued, and connected to something larger than the task list). One-time perks or annual events don’t really address these things.
That said, some engagement strategies do help improve retention and productivity. Here are some examples:
Career development and mentoring programs
There’s a reason why career development and mentoring programs are often cited as engagement strategies. In fact, 94% of employees say they would stay longer with their employer if the company invested in their career development. Career mentoring can prevent stagnation and burnout by giving employees opportunities to learn new skills and grow professionally. Reverse mentoring — where younger employees mentor older ones — bridges generations and encourages knowledge sharing. Flash mentoring allows employees to learn from experts across subject areas, while mentoring circles enable peer-to-peer learning.
Learning and development (L&D) is another key component of career development. L&D includes everything from in-house training and off-site conferences to on-the-job training and online courses. It also includes job shadowing and professional certifications.
Leadership behavior
Gallup says that up to 70% of the variance in engagement is attributed to the manager. That means leadership behavior is the highest-leverage category of engagement strategy. Executive leaders must buy into engagement, communicate it, and model it themselves, creating the conditions for managers and employees to adopt an engagement mindset. Here’s what that looks like in practice: A manager opens their team meeting by sharing a recent mistake they made and what they learned from it. This modeling of psychological safety helps create a culture where employees feel safe to take risks and share ideas.
Recognition and transparent communication
Recognition and transparency are everyday engagement practices that build trust across teams. Recognition tools integrated into your employee engagement software will ensure consistency and visibility. Transparent communication means informing employees who to contact about roles, benefits, procedures, etc. Two-way channels, such as coaching sessions, team meetings, and surveys, allow employees to share opinions and be taken seriously. When survey results show low communication scores, this prompts managers to improve transparency and feedback. Tools like employee experience and survey platforms can help you measure and improve communication.
Wellbeing programs, workplace giving, and defined organizational values
Wellbeing programs, workplace giving, and defined organizational values are all engagement strategies that connect employees to purpose. Mental and emotional health programs include things like employee assistance programs, mindfulness app subscriptions, art and creative workshops, employee support groups, and relaxation spaces. Acting on business values is listed among the top engagement strategies, as is starting a workplace giving program. Defined values and ethics strengthen the connection to the organizational mission.