The 2026 Gallup State of the Global Workplace, reporting on engagement at work, dropped last week. One of my most anticipated reports of the year. And honestly? The numbers held steady, which is both reassuring and alarming.
Global engagement sits at 20%. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ญ%. And France is at 8% (you can never fully take the French out of the New Yorker, but I do worry about our Parisian colleagues).
Here’s the number that should keep every executive up at night:
$๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. That’s what disengagement ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ, or 9% of world GDP. Nearly half of the entire US GDP. Gone. Justโฆ evaporated. Because people weren’t fully inspired to show up.
US managers sit at only 36% engagement โ best-practice organizations are more than twice that at 79%. That gap isn’t a rounding error. That’s a revenue opportunity hiding in plain sight.
I’ve spent my career convinced of one simple truth: ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐. Not as a slogan but as a measurable, repeatable outcome. I’ve seen results jump 30% under the right leadership. I’ve also seen it decline when leadership changes for the worse. The correlation is undeniable.
Gallup defines engagement as the involvement and enthusiasm employees have for their work and workplace. And in practice, it comes down to one thing: motivation. And most leaders simply don’t know how to create it.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ’๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐:
โข Set crystal-clear expectations and give feedback constantly. Ambiguity is the enemy of accountability.
โข Give autonomy. Trust your people to own their work. Accountability follows.
โข Ditch the blame culture. Build a growth culture instead. Mistakes are data, not verdicts.
โข Create psychological safety. Ask questions to understand, not to judge. Listen as you mean it.
โข Open the flow of ideas: top-down and bottom-up. The best insight in your organization may come from someone who’s never been asked.
๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐ป’๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ. ๐๐’๐ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ, ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ, ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
If any of this resonates, whether you’re navigating a leadership transition, trying to move the needle on your team’s engagement, or just wondering why your best people keep leaving, I’d love to connect. This is exactly the work I do.
People Join Companies and Leave Managers
