Employee engagement goes down to 34% in 2021, study finds

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What goes up must come down, which is what has been happening with employee engagement in the U.S. A new study by Gallup shows that for the first time in a decade, employee engagement fell – from 36% in 2020 to 34% in 2021.

This has continued into early last year when 32% of full and part time employees said they were engaged while 17% are actively disengaged, an increase of 1% over last year.

The survey measures several workplace elements, including employees’ level of agreement about clarity of expectations, opportunities for development and their opinions counting at work. In short, engaged employees are involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. Actively disengaged employees are disgruntled and disloyal because most of their workplace needs are unmet.

The ratio of engaged to actively disengaged workers in the U.S. is 1.9 to 1, down from 2.1 to 1 in 2021 and 2.6 to 1 in 2020. The annual record high is a ratio of 2.7 to 1 in 2019.

Gallup measures employee engagement by asking random samples of the working population about specific workplace elements that link to many organizational outcomes, including profitability, productivity, customer service, retention, safety and overall wellbeing. The current survey was of a random sample of 14,705 U.S. full- and part-time employees.

The engagement elements that declined the most from early 2021 to 2022 were employees’ level of agreement that they have clear expectations, the right materials and equipment, the opportunity to do what they do best every day, and a connection to the mission or purpose of their organization. Gallup also found an eight-point decline in the percentage of employees who are extremely satisfied with their organization as a place to work.

Health care workers had the greatest engagement decline (nine points) from early 2021 to early 2022. Managers saw a seven-point decline from early to late 2021 — but have since rebounded by three points in early 2022.

Gallup suggests that employers can:

• Use their organizational culture and values to guide business decisions. Employees need to see the intended culture and values lived out daily. It is important to listen to people and act based on employees’ work-life needs.

• Embrace flexible work environments while developing plans for the future of work. Flexibility can take on different meanings for employees, depending on the type of work they do and the ideal physical location for them to have outstanding individual performance, team collaboration and customer value. Successful organizations embrace flexibility, acknowledge that there is some ambiguity about the future and quickly respond to changes as they occur.

• Focus on employee wellbeing and acknowledging the whole person. Since work and life are blended for many employees, consider the demands of life inside and out of the workplace.

• Tailor communication to reach teams where they are. Transparent and creative omnichannel communication to employees and customers (e.g., podcasts, a company app, virtual town halls, YouTube) is more likely to reach and resonate with a wide variety of people in many different work-life situations.

Related: Employee engagement dropping, Gallup finds

• Enable managers to manage through times of change. Consistently upskill managers to coach their employees through their strengths.