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In 2024, Gallup reported that low worker engagement is costing U.S. firms an estimated $1.9 trillion in misplaced productiveness. The message is evident: The way you interact your workforce is not nearly morale — it is about efficiency, retention and long-term progress.
Early in my profession, I did not assume a lot about employee engagement. To be trustworthy, I did not anticipate a lot from my employers both. My mindset was easy: Work arduous, ship outcomes, receives a commission, get promoted. That was the implicit contract. Effort and time in trade for cash and energy. It was the Nineties, and that was thought of regular, particularly on the earth of enterprise software program gross sales.
There is a well-known line from Mad Males the place Don Draper responds to a subordinate’s request for appreciation with: “That is what the cash is for.” It captures a sure mindset of management — outcomes over relationships, management over connection.
I lived that mindset for years.
However over time, as I rose by the ranks and led bigger groups, I began to note one thing: I used to be now not motivated simply by cash. Throughout my years at Citrix, the motto, per our CEO Mark Templeton, grew to become: “Work arduous, play arduous, get outcomes and have enjoyable doing it.” I wished to benefit from the work, be taught one thing new, really feel valued and snort with my teammates. And although I at all times gave 100% — even when these issues have been lacking — I started to understand that not everyone seems to be wired the identical. Nor ought to they be.
Associated: Top 10 Employee Engagement Strategies That Matter
The turning level
My first CEO function at getAbstract was a sport changer. Abruptly, I used to be accountable not only for outcomes, however for culture. We offered a product that gave firms entry to over 14,000 curated enterprise e-book summaries, together with the perfect considering on management and organizational effectiveness. Individuals like Simon Sinek, Lisa McLeod, Ken Blanchard, Mark Miller, Stephen M.R. Covey and plenty of extra have turn out to be common voices in our work and conversations.
As well as, our shoppers, largely (places of work of the) CHROs at giant companies, put our resolution to work inside their unbelievable organizations. Being surrounded by wonderful content material, clients, cultures and colleagues turns into my model of a complicated research in human habits at work.
By this, one thing clicked: One of the best leaders do not simply lead for outcomes; they lead with purpose, that means and repair.
I grew to become intellectually curious. I started testing what I used to be studying — main with gratitude, aligning round goal, creating house for constructive feedback and progress. And the outcomes? Staff confirmed up with extra ardour. Clients seen the vitality. Gross sales grew. Revenue adopted.
What began as principle was observe. Observe was perception. Perception was who I’m as a pacesetter.
Associated: The Key to Employee Engagement Is Purpose. Here’s Why — and How to Foster It in Your Workplace.
Engagement is a enterprise technique
Too many leaders nonetheless consider engagement as a “nice-to-have” — a comfortable talent or HR metric that does not immediately hook up with the underside line. I do know as a result of I was one in all them.
However here is what I’ve realized: Engagement will not be fluff. It is a strategic lever for enterprise progress.
When staff really feel seen, heard, challenged and appreciated, they convey what I name discretionary effort — that further vitality and initiative that may’t be purchased, solely impressed. And while you create worth past wage — by recognition, goal, studying and belonging — individuals aren’t continuously wanting elsewhere for extra. One other manner to consider it: Engagement is what makes individuals really look ahead to Monday.
As MD Rafi, founder and CEO of Bison Life, instructed me in an interview: “We began treating tradition like a product — one thing to design, construct and iterate. It was now not about protecting individuals completely satisfied. It was about serving to them develop, take possession and really feel important to the mission.”
Engaged groups innovate extra. They promote extra. They keep longer. They appeal to nice expertise. They deal with the corporate like an owner would. It isn’t simply the suitable factor to do; it is the good factor to do.
Investing in profession improvement is not simply good for morale — it is a measurable enterprise benefit. A 2025 report from LinkedIn Studying discovered that firms with robust inside mobility and progress packages expertise greater engagement, extra inside promotions and stronger management pipelines. With 88% of organizations now citing retention as a vital concern, supporting worker improvement has turn out to be a high precedence for leaders who wish to preserve their greatest individuals.
The flywheel of genuine management
In the present day, my workforce and I coach leaders by this similar evolution. At first, we assist them see that engagement is a driver of efficiency. Then I encourage them to attempt it — lead with extra goal, invest in their people and construct a tradition of that means. They typically see a direct carry. Individuals reply.
After which one thing fantastic occurs: They begin to like the way in which it makes them really feel; good! Not simply the enterprise outcomes, however the vitality, connection and private achievement that come from main effectively.
What started as an experiment turns into a behavior. A brand new management type emerges — one which’s not simply efficient however genuine. And that authenticity creates a flywheel of belief, ardour and efficiency. We see this on a regular basis at nice firms we work with.
Restaurant Manufacturers Worldwide (RBI), the mother or father firm of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, prioritizes a tradition that cares for its workforce members so it may translate into nice customer experiences and enterprise efficiency. Jeff Housman, RBI’s Chief Individuals & Providers Officer, emphasizes this connection: “Our tradition is constructed round hard-working, good individuals who care deeply about one another and the company we serve. When our workforce members really feel supported and valued, they convey that very same care to each buyer interplay, making a cycle of positivity that drives our success.”
Freeman, one of many world’s main dwell occasion and model expertise firms, exemplifies this strategy. Acknowledged twice as a Prime Workplaces USA winner in 2024 and 2025 amongst giant employers, Freeman’s dedication to embedding goal and innovation into its tradition has earned it a number of awards, together with honors for Management, Work-Life Flexibility and Objective & Values.
Chair of the Board Carrie Freeman Parsons captures this ethos, stating, “It has been my lifelong expertise that occasions join individuals in ways in which depart them extra impressed, higher knowledgeable and higher ready for what lies forward.” This values-driven mannequin has been well known as a catalyst for worker engagement and long-term retention — demonstrating how goal, when embedded into day by day operations, can form a resilient and motivated workforce.
Associated: 6 Employee Engagement Tips for Strong Retention
In case you’re a pacesetter who’s nonetheless caught within the previous mindset — if you happen to’re considering, “That is what the cash is for” — I encourage you to attempt one thing new. Lead with goal. Begin with why. See how individuals reply. Watch what occurs to your tradition, your clients and your organization.
You is likely to be shocked by how nice it feels. And much more shocked by the outcomes.
