The Illusion of “Fine”
A leadership team gathers for its weekly meeting. Status reports are presented concisely. Next steps are determined with minimal discussion. Everyone is polite and agreeable. The meeting ends ten minutes early. On the surface, this appears productive. But three years ago, the same meeting brought animated debates, collaborative problem-solving, and surfaced valuable insights. The contrast reveals what disengagement looks like when it becomes normalized–a retreat from the contributions that once drove innovation and improvement.
The evidence of disengagement is clear and concerning. Data from Gallup shows U.S. employee engagement has fallen to just 31%, the lowest level in more than a decade. Meanwhile, researchers at Deloitte and McKinsey point to growing execution gaps as teams struggle with change and ambiguity.
As organizations navigate continuous change, they lose the alignment, clarity, and trust needed to keep people connected. This creates what Gallup has identified as The Great Detachment–people performing their jobs while feeling increasingly disconnected from organizational purpose.
The business consequences are measurable. Teams with high engagement achieve 23% higher profitability, 18% higher productivity, and 10% higher customer ratings.
A VP of product presents the roadmap in a cross-functional meeting. There are known concerns, but no one raises them. Not because they’re afraid to speak up, but because they’ve stopped believing it will make a difference. The discussion ends summarily. Teams move forward quietly, then execute without energy or conviction. This reflects the true nature of disengagement—the withholding of discretionary effort that once made excellence possible.
Building an Engaged Organization
Organizations thrive when people are fully committed to their work. This happens when conditions enable meaningful connection and contribution.
When organizational structures introduce unnecessary complexity, even the strongest engagement efforts falter. According to Deloitte, employees report spending significant time on work that doesn’t contribute to their organization’s value creation. Engagement erodes when people spend more energy navigating organizational barriers than applying their talents.
Leaders can create better conditions for engagement by prioritizing:
1. Clarity
Clear, purposeful communication helps people understand:
- What direction the organization is taking and why it matters
- Why initiatives are important and how they connect to broader goals
- How daily work contributes to organizational impact
2. Trust
Trust develops when leaders:
- Openly share decisions and supporting rationale
- Foster a culture where people feel free to speak up without fear of retribution
- Demonstrate consistent behaviors and visibly model what they expect from others
3. Consistency
Effective leaders strengthen engagement by:
- Establishing predictable communication rhythms that everyone can rely on
- Creating deliberate structures for information to flow throughout the organization
- Honoring foundational commitments, such as development and support, even as business priorities evolve
4. Systems
Effective systems enable people to direct their energy toward meaningful contributions:
- Streamline approval processes to enable greater autonomy and decisive action
- Create integrated platforms that provide just-in-time information
- Design processes that minimize administrative burden in favor of substantive work
Identifying Engagement Gaps and Opportunities
The difference between minimum required effort and genuine commitment reveals potential for improved performance throughout organizations.
Engagement indicators appear in everyday interactions:
- People approaching new challenges with reluctance rather than initiative
- Ideas met with passive acceptance rather than thoughtful discussion
- Team members opting to work independently as opposed to collaborating purposefully
These signals highlight where engagement is driving performance and where it might be missing.
Intentional leadership focused on clarity, trust, consistency, and supportive systems is the foundation for a culture in which people genuinely connect to work they find rewarding. This approach builds organizations capable of sustaining performance during periods of uncertainty and continuous change.
