Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2024: Our Key Insights

We respond first to the latest report from Gallup

“Global employee engagement has stagnated.”

That’s Gallup‘s leading headline for their latest State of the Global Workplace report, which launched on 12th June 2024. The previous year’s report highlighted the lack of engagement and overall satisfaction in the global workforce, a trend predicted to increase.

What’s notable in this year’s analysis is how little has changed. If anything, these rates are rising, contributing to low employee well-being and costing trillions to the global economy.

In this live response, our employee engagement experts break down the analysis, helping you understand the impact of Gallup’s figures.

We will also give you an insight into how your team can recover from low engagement, reduce attrition, and strengthen your productivity through our strategy of “bridging insights to action.” Let’s get started.

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Only 23% of Employees are Engaged

Low Engagement is Impacting Productivity and Growth

The rate of engaged employees has been low for several years, but the lack of change will sound alarm bells in many sectors. As experts in employee engagement, we reason that the lack of enthusiasm stems from three key areas: management, connection and vision.

70% of the variance in employee engagement was influenced solely by an employee’s management, not by HR strategies.

“Frontline managers, in particular, are the most crucial lever when it comes to engaging an organisation’s employees. When managers are burned out and disengaged, companywide performance suffers. But when manager engagement is high, business success soars.”

Gallup’s State of The Global Workplace report found that:

23% of Employees are Engaged
62% of Employees are Not Engaged
15% of Employees are Actively Disengaged

Engagement strategies have powerful benefits. Techniques, such as leveraging recognition, does more that make your workers feel seen. It also improves team connection.

With an effective recognition strategy, your company could benefit from more than just a reduction in attrition rates. Mo helps foster positive values in your culture through our automated platform, including habits of connection.

Feelings of ‘Belonging’ are Low

Team Connection is Suffering

After analysing various reports and data analyses on employee engagement, we noticed three trends:

Employees feel disconnected
Remote work has shrunk networks
Even close team interactions have diminished

The first step to addressing these problems? We must create a culture of recognition that encourages team connection and accountability.

“Employees who don’t feel like a part of the team, who don’t experience this sense of belonging, will never feel able to bring their full, authentic selves to work,” says Seema Shah, Director of Consulting at Great Place to Work UK.

As for those who do? Well, they’re three times more likely to describe their workplace as fun, five times more likely to stay there long-term, and six times more likely to look forward to coming to work. And when asked whether they feel free to be themselves at work, 91% of employees at Best Workplaces say they do.

The conclusion: we must create a stronger sense of employee connection by understanding how hybrid and remote situations impact our overall well-being.

Engagement Rates Remain Stagnant

Low Engagement Has a High Cost

In their data, Gallup reports that the current lack of engagement is costing the global economy trillions every year. $8.9 trillion is lost every year due to low engagement levels, which equals around 9% of global GDP.

The answer for business is investing in employee engagement. Not only will reward and recognition strategies hold on to hard-working employees, but they will also improve overall work/life satisfaction. Research shows engaged team members perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave a company. Retaining your best people drives productivity and lowers recruitment costs.

The cost of recruiting and replacing staff could be higher than you think. The Telegraph reports that the cost of replacing an employee is £30,614 on average, That includes logistics, like advertising and agency fees, as well as the time it takes for a new employee to bed in. The cost of replacing top-tier talent can be even higher, thanks to extended recruitment processes and complicated handovers.

Mo leverages recognition to improve your employee engagement scores, helping you reduce attrition rates and save money. Our engagement platform improves company culture by boosting feelings of connection and belonging.

With our expert support, engagement can be simple. Mo nurtures a sense of accountability between teams, helping your employees celebrate success and drive productivity.

Employees Are Stressed and Disconnected

Worker Mental Health is Becoming an Issue for Employers

This year’s report highlights global employee wellbeing, with a particular emphasis on mental health. 41% of the workforce interviewed told researchers that they experienced a lot of stress the previous day.

Daily stress is a chronic disincentive that reduces morale and productivity across all organisational levels. Only 34% of the workforce feel like they are thriving, while 20% of employees reported that they experienced loneliness the previous day.

Building connections in the work environment might not be your current priority. We want to illustrate why it does matter.

A positive company culture doesn’t merely improve the well-being of your employees. It changes how people feel towards your company’s reputation, making your business more attractive to candidates in a competitive job market. Regular feedback improves employee well-being and helps them advance in their skills.

Evidence shows that cultures of high performance are built through regular recognition and feedback. When we break down the numbers, employees who feel valued for their contributions tend to be more productive and engaged, driving a 21% uplift in business profitability.

Imagine what your teams could achieve with the right recognition strategy in place.

Nothing Will Change Unless Our Approach Shifts

Insights Should Create Action

Did any of these Gallup statistics resonate with you? Low engagement is kryptonite for your organisation’s goals. But, with the right strategy, you can create remarkable improvements.

After an employee engagement survey, we can help you bridge these insights into meaningful action – even if your overall scores are stable. Effective recognition ensures engagement remains high, but you need a system that connects your insights to realistic steps.

Mo is a culture and engagement platform that uses data insights to drive real improvement in engagement scores while reducing staff turnover. We strategically help people teams create great places to work through continuous, positive action.

We have seen these effects firsthand with our customers. We helped Atlas Hotels reduce their employee turnover rate by 17% since introducing Mo in 2018, and Axol Biometric to increase their eNPS by 57%. And with digital publishing leader Quark, we’ve been deployed to help create a more collaborative, cohesive culture between their teams in the US, UK and India.

An engagement strategy is the answer to all of the issues highlighted by Gallup‘s State of the Global Workplace Report 2024. Speak to our experts about how we turn your engagement insights into action.

We turn your disconnected employees into engaged teams.

Learn more about our proven strategies

Employee Engagement Software

Employee engagement drives high performance.

Employee Recognition

Employee Recognition improves team connection.

How to have difficult conversations at work

Staff Rewards

Staff rewards and recognition drive performance.

Mo is the Answer to Improving Employee Engagement

If you’re looking for ways to take action on measuring employee engagement, learn more about how to shift the dial at the manager level and transform insights into action. To find out if you’re eligible for our money-back guarantee, book a demo with our team.

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Written by Alice Florence Orr Content Writer

Alice writes about employee experience, HR trends and engagement strategies.

All Articles by Alice Florence Orr