Gallup recently released new data on employee engagement, and the results are dismal. Just 3 out of every 10 employees are actively engaged—which is the lowest percentage in a decade. But despite decades of effort and investment in tackling disengagement, this persistent issue endures.
If you conduct an Amazon search for books on employee engagement, you’ll get thousands of results. There are also dozens of apps and “platforms” that promise to “unleash human potential” and “help people transform,” not to mention countless, self-described “coaches” offering services related to “re-engaging” the workforce.
We’ve seen the rise and fall of “perks culture,” added opportunities for hybrid and flexible work, and wage increases averaging 39% over the last 10 years—all in an attempt to fix this seemingly systemic issue.
And yet, nothing’s moved the needle on engagement. Why?
Despite all these efforts, we’ve missed something fundamental: Engagement doesn’t come from where or when we work or what we get for doing it. It comes from what we experience while working.
Work is relationships
We construct our work experience through our interpersonal relationships. The psychologist David Blustein captured this reality when he wrote the following in the Journal Of Vocational Behavior, “ . . . each decision, experience, and interaction with the working world is understood, influenced, and shaped by relationships.”
Gallup’s latest data reveals that only 39% of employees think someone cares about them as people at work. Less than half say that their bosses and colleagues treat them with respect, and just 30% say their place of work encourages potential and development. Other studies from the last five years show that 30% of people feel invisible at work, 65% feel underappreciated, and close to 82% of workers say they’ve felt lonely, as reported by SHRM.
This paints a clear picture: We’re not facing a “disengagement crisis”—we’re facing a mattering deficit, and more apps, surveys, perks, or pay increases won’t fix this. Only people can.
People won’t care if they don’t feel cared for
Mattering is the experience of feeling significant that comes from being seen, heard, and valued. It’s also a prerequisite for engagement. And engagement is when employees care about what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and who they’re doing it with. It is the experience of feeling significant that comes from being seen, heard, and valued.
But we can’t expect people to care if they don’t first feel cared for. According to the Journal of Organizational Psychology, there are three psychological states that predict engagement: psychological meaningfulness (I and what I do matter), psychological safety (I can show my true self without fear of consequences), and psychological availability (I have the physical and psychological resources I need to do my work).
You can cultivate relationships to make people feel seen, supported, and valued. This is why organizations need to shift their focus from merely measuring engagement to equipping leaders with the skills to cultivate its leading indicator: mattering.
Re-skill leaders so that they care
Building on almost a half-decade of research on what creates a sense of mattering, psychologist Isaac Prilleltensky distinguished two ingredients necessary to feel significant. When we feel that others value us and we know how we add value to their lives. Feeling valued and adding value have a reinforcing relationship. The more we feel valued, the more we add value.
When leaders value the people they lead, those people can contribute, create, and innovate, because they know someone sees them, hears them, and has their back. Relationships in which we feel cared for reinforce our worth and ability, forging our confidence to add value.
When people feel like they matter to someone, they act like they matter, they “engage.” A mistake many leaders subconsciously make is to assume that people only deserve value once they add value, but the opposite is true: People need to feel valued to add value.
Money, perks, programs, awards, and platforms can’t value someone. They’re inanimate objects. They can be symbols of value, but only people can value people. That’s why re-engagement begins with re-skilling leaders to care, truly see and hear others, and help them understand the difference they make every day.
The essential skills to create a culture of significance
So, where do we start? In research for my new book, The Power of Mattering, my team and I uncovered three critical skill sets of leaders that cultivate a sense of mattering:
- Noticing: This is the skill of truly seeing and hearing others. Seeing others requires you to acknowledge them and paying attention to the details, ebbs, and flows of their lives and work while offering actions to show them you’re paying attention. Hearing someone means demonstrating a real interest in the meaning and feeling behind someone’s words and inviting out their experiences and perspectives within a climate of psychological safety.
- Affirming: The skills of knowing, naming, and nurturing people’s gifts, showing how they and their work make a difference, giving meaningful gratitude, and providing affirming critical feedback.
- Needing: The skills of showing people how they and their work are indispensable and non-disposable.
The good news is that mattering happens in small interactions, not grand initiatives. Addressing disengagement requires a commitment to re-learning and scaling these essential human skills. Leaders can start by making sure that they take the time to make the next person they interact with feel noticed, affirmed, and needed.
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