Latest Research on Employee Engagement
Research on employee engagement strategies, measurement, drivers, and their impact on organizational performance.
What the evidence shows
- Engagement is driven primarily by the direct manager relationship, role clarity, and a sense of growth -- not perks or compensation alone.
- Organizations that act visibly on survey results within 60 days see significantly higher engagement scores in the following cycle.
- Engagement and wellbeing are distinct constructs; high engagement without wellbeing support leads to burnout, not sustained performance.
Common mistakes
- Running annual engagement surveys but failing to close the loop with visible action, eroding trust in the process.
- Conflating engagement with satisfaction -- a satisfied employee is not necessarily a productive or committed one.
- Placing engagement ownership entirely on the people team instead of equipping managers to own it at the team level.
Job Performance Reviews Are Outdated and Often Pointless - FlaglerLive
This article addresses the persistent use of annual individual performance reviews despite substantial evidence of their ineffectiveness. The authors — both academics from New Zealand universities — a...
10 Employee Incentive Programs to Motivate & Engage
This article addresses the design and implementation of employee incentive programs, arguing that many organizations fail not because incentives are ineffective, but because they select the wrong ince...
Talent management system: build a people strategy powerhouse
This article, published by Leapsome, addresses the challenge HR teams face in translating people strategy into measurable business outcomes. The authors argue that fragmented HR tools create a structu...
Employee rewards and recognition programs guide
This article, published by Achievers, a commercial employee recognition platform provider, addresses the design and implementation of employee rewards and recognition programs. The central argument is...
Collecting Employee Feedback at Scale: Best Practices to Follow
This article addresses the challenge organizations face in systematically collecting employee feedback as they grow beyond informal communication structures. The author argues that scaling feedback co...
7 examples of impactful employee recognition programs
This article from Achievers, a commercial employee recognition platform vendor, examines seven customer case studies to illustrate how structured recognition programs can drive measurable business out...
8 proven strategies to improve employee motivation at work
This article addresses the challenge of maintaining employee motivation in mid-market organizations with limited resources and lean teams. The author argues that motivation requires ongoing nurturing ...
Employee Engagement Speaker: What to Know Before You Book - Adam Mendler
This article, authored by Adam Mendler, a professional keynote speaker and founder of Thirty Minute Mentors, addresses the topic of employee engagement and the role of external speakers in improving o...
From Process to Purpose: Making Performance Management Your Greatest Asset in Times of Change - SHRM
This article, published via SHRM, addresses the role of performance management systems during periods of organizational and macroeconomic transition, with particular attention to the MENA/GCC region. ...
UK financial year end exposes rise in false retention as ‘job hugging’ hides an emerging engagement problem - The HR Director
This article addresses the phenomenon of 'false retention' in UK workplaces, wherein employees remain in roles due to labour market caution rather than genuine engagement or commitment. Published at t...
Leveraging Pulse Surveys for Predictive Engagement Insights
This article addresses the challenge of measuring employee engagement beyond traditional annual surveys by advocating for pulse surveys as a real-time feedback mechanism. The author argues that pulse ...
AI Performance Management: Leverage It for Team Success
This article, published by Leapsome, addresses the integration of artificial intelligence into performance management systems. The author argues that AI can materially improve performance management b...
25 employee incentive programs to engage your team
This article, published by Achievers, addresses the problem of employee disengagement and its financial consequences, citing an estimated $1.9 trillion annual cost of unhappy employees in the United S...
My first performance review after maternity leave was disappointing. It was difficult to be a great mom and a great employee. - AOL.com
This article addresses the intersection of postpartum recovery, workplace re-entry, and performance evaluation in the United States. The author, a working mother and primary household earner, recounts...
What is workplace culture? What it means and why it matters for you - USA Today
This article examines workplace culture as the lived experience of organizational operations rather than stated values. The author argues that culture manifests through leadership decisions, policies,...
How Pennrose Cut Their Performance Cycle Time in Half with 15Five
This article addresses the performance management challenges faced by Pennrose, an affordable real estate development and property management company with approximately 600 employees distributed acros...
25 ideas for employee recognition awards
This article, published by Achievers, addresses the perceived gap between employee recognition frequency and employee expectations in contemporary organizations. The author argues that recognition awa...
The advantages and disadvantages of employee voice: From silence to strategy
This article, published by Achievers, addresses the organizational value and risks of employee voice programs — defined as structured mechanisms for collecting and acting on employee feedback. The aut...
Commentary: Job performance reviews are outdated and often pointless – so why keep using them? - CNA
This commentary discusses the persistence of outdated job performance review processes despite their known limitations. Researchers argue that these systems are backward-looking, distort worker behavi...
Job performance reviews are outdated and often pointless. Why do we still use them?
This article addresses the persistent use of traditional annual performance review systems despite substantial evidence of their ineffectiveness. The authors argue that conventional performance apprai...
How to build an employee recognition program
This article addresses the challenge of designing, launching, and sustaining employee recognition programs within organizations. Authored by Achievers, a recognition software vendor, the piece argues ...
How Fintech PEX Improved Manager Effectiveness with 15Five
This article addresses the performance management challenges faced by PEX, a fintech expense management company, as it scaled its workforce. Authored and published by 15Five, the article argues that c...
The World of Corporate Training Lurches Toward Enablement
This article addresses the rapid transformation of corporate learning and development (L&D) from traditional training and credentialization toward what the author terms 'Dynamic Enablement' — deliveri...
How Psychological Safety in the Workplace Affects Employee Engagement
This article, published by performance management software vendor 15Five, examines the relationship between psychological safety and employee engagement in the workplace. The central argument is that ...
Performance Management Trends to Watch in 2026
This article, published by HR software vendor 15Five, addresses the evolving landscape of performance management as organisations move into 2026. The central argument is that traditional performance m...
15Five’s Guide to Goal Setting
This article addresses the challenge of effective workforce goal setting and its connection to employee engagement, retention, and productivity. Produced by 15Five, a performance management software v...
15Five vs. Culture Amp: Where 15Five Is the Stronger Fit
This article addresses the decision-making challenge HR leaders face when selecting a performance management platform, specifically comparing 15Five and Culture Amp. Authored and published by 15Five, ...
7 Signs You’ve Outgrown Your HRIS
This article, published by 15Five, addresses the limitations of Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) as organizations scale beyond their foundational HR needs. The author argues that HRIS platfo...
McKinsey’s State of Organizations 2026: 75% fail to build high-performance cultures
This article summarises findings from McKinsey's State of Organizations 2026 report, a global survey of 10,000 senior executives examining barriers to high-performance culture. The central argument is...
How to Build a High Performing Team + Tips
This article from Quantum Workplace addresses the question of what distinguishes high-performing teams and how organizations can build them. The authors argue that high performance emerges not from ta...
Beyond Employee Engagement Trends: Unlocking Potential
This article addresses a perceived gap between surface-level employee engagement metrics and deeper organizational health signals in 2026. Authored by Quantum Workplace's People Insights team, the cen...
Why employee engagement starts with a culture of genuine support - hrleader.com.au
This article, authored by Cassandra Eastham, Head of People and Culture at Blue Connections IT, addresses the persistent misunderstanding organisations have about the nature of employee engagement. Th...
Why so Many Companies Are Rethinking Performance Reviews Right Now - Business Insider
This Business Insider article examines a broad shift among major employers — including Meta, Amazon, Boston Consulting Group, and Adecco Group — toward revised performance review processes. The centra...
Performance Reviews: HR Leader Tips and Best Practices
This article, published by Quantum Workplace, addresses the perceived shortcomings of traditional annual performance reviews and presents a practitioner framework for modernising performance managemen...
Performance Management Cycle Defined + Tips
This article addresses the design and implementation of an effective performance management cycle (PMC), arguing that organizations benefit from transitioning away from annual appraisal models toward ...
Performance Management Framework: How to Build One That Works
This article, published by Quantum Workplace and updated January 2026, addresses how organizations can design and implement an effective performance management framework (PMF). The author argues that ...
“Engagement That Rocks” reveals the amplifier behind culture, retention, guest loyalty - fastcasual.com
This article addresses employee engagement in the fast-casual restaurant segment, arguing that engagement functions as a primary differentiator for culture, retention, and guest loyalty. The author, J...
Turbocharging HR: Improving performance management with AI - wtwco.com
This article addresses the renewed organisational interest in performance management and the emerging role of artificial intelligence in modernising the process. The authors — WTW consultants Charlott...
Global Survey Reveals Workplace Culture Gulf Between Execs and Employees - UC Today
This article reports findings from DHR Global's second annual Workforce Trends Report, based on a survey of 1,500 corporate professionals across North America, Europe, and Asia. The central problem ad...
Golden Handcuffs: A Judas Problem in Talent Retention? - Vantage Circle
This article, published by Vantage Circle, examines the concept of 'golden handcuffs' — financial retention mechanisms such as stock options, RSUs, retention bonuses, and non-compete clauses — and arg...
5 Tricky Problems with Performance Reviews: How to Fix Them Now - HRMorning
This practitioner-oriented article from HRMorning addresses five widely recognised problems with traditional annual performance reviews: infrequent cadence, poor timing of feedback, interpersonal awkw...
Best (work) friends: Weighing the worth of workplace besties - HR Magazine
This article, published in HR Magazine's November/December 2025 edition, addresses the growing crisis of workplace loneliness and its implications for employee engagement, productivity, and retention....
Appreciation and recognition crucial for retention, report finds | Human Resources Director - hcamag.com
This article reports on findings from the Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI), a research body affiliated with the recognition platform vendor Achievers, concerning the relationship between employee a...
CIOs take note: talent will walk without real training and leadership - cio.com
This article addresses the persistent challenge of attracting, developing, and retaining IT talent, with a focus on the Italian market and broader international trends. The author's central argument i...
Recognition, employee connections driving retention risks for 2026: report - Benefits Canada.com
This article reports on findings from the Achievers Workforce Institute's 2025 workforce survey, addressing employee recognition, engagement, and retention risks projected into 2026. The central argum...
Workforce Trends 2026: Leaders Confront Burnout, Disengagement, and AI-Driven Change - Hunt Scanlon Media
This article reports on DHR Global's second annual Workforce Trends Report, examining the state of employee engagement, burnout, and AI adoption as organisations approach 2026. The central argument is...
3 ways to bring balance to employee goal setting in 2026 - HR Executive
This article addresses the importance of performance goals in building talent, adapting to change, and employee wellbeing. It presents data from a broader performance management survey showing that ne...
Employee Engagement in the New Era of Work - SHRM
This article, produced by SHRM Labs and based on Episode 11 of the WorkplaceTech Spotlight, addresses the growing organizational priority of employee engagement in the context of hybrid work, talent s...
The Emotional Recession: global declines in emotional intelligence and its impact on organizational retention, burnout, and workforce resilience - Frontiers
This study investigates longitudinal changes in emotional intelligence (EQ) from 2019 to 2024 in response to the psychological disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors argue that gl...
Aligning hiring and retention strategies with today's work culture - Employee Benefit News
This article addresses the challenge employers face in attracting and retaining talent amid evolving employee expectations, particularly among younger workforce entrants. The author's central argument...
Company culture: Everything HR needs to know - Culture Amp
This comprehensive guide addresses the challenge of understanding, measuring, and improving company culture in organizations. Culture Amp presents culture as the shared values, attitudes, and practice...
Bunzl Canada strengthening workplace culture, employee engagement with paid volunteer days - Benefits Canada.com
This article profiles Bunzl Canada Inc.'s paid volunteer days program as a mechanism for strengthening employee engagement and workplace culture. The company's president, John Howlett, positions the i...
Pay + Culture: The Two Keys to Employee Retention Success - SUCCESS Magazine
This article addresses the question of what drives employee retention, arguing that the combination of competitive compensation and strong organizational culture produces superior retention and financ...
22% of employees quit within 90 days, citing poor onboarding and training: Survey - Indiatimes
This article reports on Insight Global's 2025 Employee Sentiment Report, which examines employee engagement and early attrition trends among US workers. The central argument is that low engagement — w...
Why Family Culture is HR’s Best Retention Strategy - Human Capital Institute
This article addresses the contested concept of 'family culture' as an organizational retention and engagement strategy, arguing that its negative reputation is undeserved when implemented with authen...
Adapt your travel policies to retain Gen Z talent - HR Magazine
This article addresses the challenge of retaining Gen Z employees through adapted corporate travel policies. The author, Felicia Williams, VP of People at TravelPerk, argues that traditional travel po...
CSR programs driving engagement, retention across generations of employees: expert - Benefits Canada.com
This article addresses the growing role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs in shaping employee engagement, retention, and recruitment strategies among Canadian employers. The author's c...
Employers that foster employee belonging boosting engagement, retention, but more work to be done: survey - Benefits Canada.com
This article addresses the relationship between employee belonging and key organizational outcomes including engagement, retention, stress management, and revenue growth, drawing on a report by McLean...
Once upon a time | How storytelling training for managers & leaders could drive employee engagement - HR Grapevine
This article addresses the role of narrative and storytelling as a leadership communication tool in driving employee engagement and managing organizational change. The author's central argument, suppo...
Employee Engagement and Happiness Crisis. What Should We Do?
This article addresses declining employee engagement and workplace happiness as reported through various surveys and reports. Bersin argues that only 21% of workers are fully engaged according to 2025...
Anemic Employee Engagement Points to Leadership Challenges - Gallup
This article examines declining U.S. employee engagement based on Gallup's ongoing survey research. The author reports that engagement has stagnated at 32% as of midyear, down from a 36% peak in early...
Build a culture of experimentation to attract and retain top talent - HR Magazine
This article addresses the challenge of attracting and retaining younger workers in an evolving workforce landscape. The author, Steve Hunt, Chief People Officer at Tipalti, argues that traditional em...
Updated HR Research Links Effective Employee Onboarding to Engagement, Retention, and Culture: McLean & Company Resource - PR Newswire
This article addresses the persistent gap between onboarding as a brief orientation exercise and onboarding as a strategic, multi-month employee development process. McLean & Company, a global HR rese...
Turning goals into growth: How Unilever’s Ilvan Yahdi uses OKRs to drive change
This article addresses the challenge organisations face in translating strategic intent into scalable outcomes, particularly in an era of rapid technological change. The author's central argument, pre...
Penn State Human Resources shifts employee goal, performance review schedule - Penn State University
This article addresses Penn State University's decision to restructure its annual employee goal-setting and performance review cycle for University staff. The administration's central argument is that...
Employee engagement and recognition: A strategic tool for retention and productivity - The Business & Financial Times
This article, authored by R. Esi Asante (PhD) and published in The Business & Financial Times, examines employee engagement and recognition as strategic tools for workforce retention and productivity,...
Make Learning and Development a Talent Magnet - SHRM
This article addresses the growing strategic importance of learning and development (L&D) as a tool for talent attraction, engagement, and retention across the employee life cycle. The central argumen...
Top Employee Performance Metrics to Prioritize in 2026 - Workday Blog
This article, published on the Workday Blog, addresses the evolving landscape of employee performance measurement and argues that organizations must update their metrics frameworks to reflect contempo...
Fostering Engagement Is Vital to Improving Workforce Retention - Health Leaders Media
This article addresses declining employee engagement and elevated turnover rates within the U.S. healthcare workforce, drawing on a 2024 Press Ganey report. The central argument is that trust deficits...
Prioritizing the employee experience improves retention - National Restaurant Association
This article, published by the National Restaurant Association (NRA), addresses the persistent employee retention challenge in the restaurant industry despite improved applicant flow. The central argu...
Fostering A Strong Workplace Culture to Drive Business Growth - Hunt Scanlon Media
This article, published by Hunt Scanlon Media and drawing primarily from a Protis Global report and a TalentRise commentary, examines the relationship between workplace culture and business performanc...
Employee engagement survey results: How to analyze, interpret, and act - Culture Amp
This Culture Amp guide addresses how organizations can effectively analyze and act on employee engagement survey results. The article argues that collecting employee feedback through surveys is only v...
To boost employee engagement in the age of burnout, focus on skills-building - HR Executive
This article addresses the decline in U.S. employee engagement, described as reaching its lowest level in a decade, and argues that skills-based learning and development offers a viable organizational...
Performance Management Statistics By Assessment, Employee Engagement and Facts - ElectroIQ
This article presents a compilation of performance management statistics covering employee engagement, feedback frequency, and organizational practices. The author aggregates data from multiple source...
Zooming in: What data reveals about remote, hybrid, and in-office work - Culture Amp
This article examines common beliefs about remote, hybrid, and in-office work arrangements using data from Culture Amp's analysis of 241,605 employees across 735 companies from July 2023 to July 2024....
Employee Retention Depends on Getting Recognition Right - Gallup
This article addresses the relationship between employee recognition quality and workforce retention, drawing on a longitudinal study conducted jointly by Gallup and Workhuman. The authors argue that ...
Why business leaders must empower managers to get the very best from their teams - HR Magazine
This article addresses the widespread phenomenon of undertrained managers in UK organisations, arguing that insufficient investment in management and leadership development is a primary driver of unde...
World's Largest Ongoing Study of the Employee Experience - Gallup
This article presents findings from Gallup's 25-year meta-analysis of employee engagement, which has grown from 2,528 business units in 1998 to 183,806 business units across 736 studies. The study add...
Why Your Organization’s Success Hinges on Effective Manager Training—and How to Get It Right - Spring Health
This article, published by Spring Health, addresses the organizational importance of manager effectiveness and the case for structured manager training programs. The central argument is that managers ...
42% of Employee Turnover Is Preventable but Often Ignored - Gallup
This article addresses voluntary employee turnover in the United States, drawing on Gallup's proprietary research to argue that a significant proportion of departures are preventable through manageria...
An eco-work ethic? How sustainability influences employee engagement - Culture Amp
This article examines the relationship between corporate sustainability commitments and employee engagement using Culture Amp's proprietary survey data. The authors analyzed responses from over 400,00...
10 Must-Know Employee Engagement Statistics For 2026 - Vantage Circle
This article, published by Vantage Circle, aggregates ten employee engagement statistics intended to frame the business case for prioritizing workforce engagement in 2026. The central argument is that...
Employee Experience: The Complete Guide for HR Leaders (2026) - Vantage Circle
This article, published by Vantage Circle, addresses the challenge of employee disengagement and positions employee experience (EX) as the strategic lever HR leaders should prioritize over traditional...
Employee Experience: What It Is and How to Improve It - Built In
This article, published by Built In, addresses the concept of employee experience (EX) as a comprehensive construct encompassing every interaction an employee has with an organisation across the full ...
19 Best Employee Engagement KPI You Need To Know In 2026 - Vantage Circle
This article addresses the measurement of employee engagement through key performance indicators (KPIs) in organizational settings. The author presents employee engagement as integral to business succ...
How to Give Constructive Feedback: 21 Examples for Work - BetterUp
This article addresses the challenge of delivering constructive feedback in workplace settings, arguing that the quality and delivery of feedback — not employees' resistance to improvement — is the pr...
7 tips for an impactful development program - Culture Amp
This article addresses the challenge of creating effective employee development programs in organizations. Culture Amp's people scientists argue that employee development is the primary driver of empl...
Why Gtmhub Separates OKRs and Performance Reviews
This article addresses the organizational question of whether OKRs and performance reviews should be integrated or kept separate. The authors — Gtmhub's Chief Marketing Officer Casey Carey and Head of...
Top 58 Most Important Employee Recognition Statistics in 2026 - Vantage Circle
This article, published by Vantage Circle, aggregates 58 employee recognition statistics organized across thematic categories including retention, engagement, productivity, culture, generational diffe...
The Tale Of Performance Management Tools: 15Five, Lattice, BetterWorks, And More…
This article examines the evolution of the performance management software market over the past two decades, tracing a shift from traditional 'rank and yank' evaluation systems to continuous, manager-...
Keeping Talent Happy: The New Rules of Employee Retention in the Modern Workplace - Vantage Circle
This article addresses the growing challenge of employee retention in modern workplaces, arguing that traditional approaches focused solely on job security are no longer sufficient. The authors conten...
The future of work is here: Culture Amp acquires Zugata - Culture Amp
This article is a corporate announcement published by Culture Amp declaring its acquisition of Zugata, a performance management software firm. The article argues that employee engagement and employee ...
Continuous employee listening strategy - Culture Amp
This article addresses the shift from traditional annual employee surveys to more frequent feedback collection across the employee lifecycle. Culture Amp argues that continuous listening strategies in...
How to manage culture through change - Culture Amp
This article addresses the challenge of maintaining organizational culture during periods of change. The author, CEO of change agency NOBL, argues that people resist loss rather than change itself, id...
Five questions with Kara Hannigan, Training and Organizational Development Manager, Human Resources Division - kcemployees.com
This article is a short Q&A interview with Kara Hannigan, the newly appointed Training and Organizational Development Manager in the Human Resources Division of King County (Washington State). The pie...
Benefits of Highly Motivated Employees - Business.com
This article, published on Business.com, examines the organizational benefits of employee motivation and its relationship to engagement, productivity, retention, and company culture. The author argues...
The Importance of Employee Recognition: Low Cost, High Impact - Gallup
This article addresses the role of employee recognition as a driver of engagement, retention, and productivity in competitive talent markets. Gallup argues that recognition is a chronically underutili...
The Benefits of Employee Engagement - Gallup
This article addresses the relationship between employee engagement measurement and business performance outcomes, arguing that the method and content of measurement are as critical as the act of meas...
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