Managers Are Struggling and It's Costly
Every year, Gallup releases its State of the Global Workplace report. This year's findings should be required reading for every leader, HR professional, and organizational decision-maker. Here's what you need to know heading into Q2.
Engagement is still sliding.
Global employee engagement dropped to 20%, its lowest point since 2020 and the second consecutive year of decline. That means eight out of ten employees worldwide are not fully committed to the work in front of them. Gallup estimates this cost the global economy roughly $10 trillion in lost productivity last year. Let that number sink in.
In the US engagement remains at 31%, the highest in the world, although not a number to brag about.
Your managers are burning out.
Here's the part that should keep you up at night – managers are driving the decline. Since 2022, manager engagement has dropped nine points. For years, managers enjoyed what Gallup called an "engagement premium,” they were more engaged than the people they led. Today that edge is gone, managers are only as engaged as their teams. When the people responsible for motivating others are themselves disengaged or unmotivated, the ripple effect is significant.
Why is this happening? It could be organizational flattening, AI adoption, or larger spans of control. I believe it is managers being asked to do more with less support and less training than ever before.
What good leaders are doing right now.
The organizations bucking these trends share one thing in common: they treat manager development as a business strategy, not a line item.
In best-practice organizations, “79% of managers are engaged,” which is nearly four times the global average. That gap is not accidental. It is the result of deliberate investment in the people closest to the work.
The question isn't whether your managers need support. The question is whether you're willing to provide it and Q2 is here. The data is not waiting for you to feel ready, your people need you investment, support, and development now.