At a time when remote work, high turnover, and employee burnout have reshaped the workplace, the question facing employers isn’t just how to attract talent, be it HR staff with SHRM certification or a software engineer with a master’s degree, but how to keep it. And behind that question lies another: how to meaningfully engage employees in ways that go beyond platitudes, perks, or productivity bonuses.
Surveys continue to suggest that organizations are falling short. In its 2024 State of the Global Workplace report, Gallup found that only 23% of employees worldwide consider themselves engaged at work. The remaining majority report being either disengaged or actively disconnected, often in ways that quietly undermine morale, customer experience, and long-term growth.
“Engagement isn’t just about satisfaction,” said Jim Harter, Gallup’s chief workplace scientist. “It’s about commitment to the mission and a sense of being valued. That’s what drives performance.”
Here are ten evidence-backed engagement strategies—grounded not in theory but in practice—that organizations are turning to in 2025 to build better workplaces from the inside out.
1.Make Purpose a Daily Priority
For all the focus on hybrid schedules and flexible benefits, the most engaged employees often say they’re driven by something deeper: a sense of meaning in their work.
That’s what companies like Patagonia and Salesforce prioritize—connecting individual tasks to broader missions, from environmental activism to social equity.
“Employees want to feel that their work contributes to something important,” said Liz Fosslien, co-author of No Hard Feelings. “Purpose isn’t a bonus—it’s a baseline.”
2.Train Managers as Coaches, Not Overseers
The difference between a thriving team and a disengaged one often comes down to management quality. In a 2024 study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 64% of workers who described themselves as “highly engaged” attributed it to their direct manager’s ability to listen and support growth.
More companies are shifting away from the old performance-review model toward continuous feedback loops, as seen at Adobe, where annual reviews were replaced with ongoing “check-ins.”
“Coaching relationships build trust and accountability,” said Marcus Buckingham, a workplace researcher and author. “That’s where engagement begins.”
3.Prioritize Employee Autonomy
Autonomy doesn’t mean letting employees do whatever they want. It means creating systems in which people can make decisions, take initiative, and solve problems without micromanagement.
“Control is the enemy of engagement,” Buckingham added. “The more we empower people to work the way they work best, the more likely they are to invest in outcomes.”
This model has worked well at companies like HubSpot, where “autonomy with alignment” is a cornerstone of team design.
4.Recognize Effort—Publicly and Often
A Slack message. A company-wide email. A quick shout-out in a team meeting.
Small moments of recognition, if frequent and authentic, are among the most cost-effective and impactful tools for engagement. Gallup research shows that employees who feel recognized are five times more likely to be engaged—and 73% less likely to feel burned out.
That recognition doesn’t have to come from the top. Peer-to-peer acknowledgment systems are gaining traction in 2025, particularly in remote-first companies.
5.Create Pathways for Growth—Beyond Promotions
Career development isn’t always linear. Yet many organizations focus narrowly on promotions, ignoring lateral movement, skill-building, or project-based opportunities.
In contrast, companies like Google and LinkedIn emphasize internal mobility, offering structured mentorship programs and learning stipends for professional development.
“Growth looks different for different people,” said Josh Bersin, an HR analyst. “The best engagement strategies reflect that.”
6.Build a Culture of Listening
It’s not enough to run annual surveys. Employees are more engaged when they see their feedback not only heard—but acted upon.
This is where tools like employee net promoter scores (eNPS) and pulse surveys come in. But the real differentiator, according to Bersin, is follow-through.
“Engagement plummets when feedback is ignored,” he said. “What builds trust is transparency about what changes—and what doesn’t—and why.”
7.Invest in Emotional Well-Being
Mental health programs are no longer add-ons. In 2025, they’re essential infrastructure.
Companies like Cisco and PwC have expanded access to therapy, introduced mental health days, and trained managers to recognize signs of burnout. Others, like Buffer, offer asynchronous work schedules to reduce stress and improve work-life balance.
“You can’t separate emotional health from performance,” Fosslien noted. “People bring their whole selves to work—whether we acknowledge it or not.”
8.Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration
Employees often disengage when their work feels siloed or disconnected from other teams. Increasingly, companies are using cross-functional task forces, job-shadowing, and project rotations to break down those walls.
This strategy is especially effective in hybrid environments, where informal interactions are rare.
“Collaboration fosters connection,” said Harter. “And connection drives engagement.”
9. Foster Inclusion Through Shared Decision-Making
Inclusion isn’t just about who’s in the room—it’s about who gets to shape decisions.
Forward-looking companies are involving employees in policy formation, product planning, and even budget allocation through participatory models.
At Atlassian, employee “champions” represent departments in leadership discussions, giving voice to operational realities that executives may not see.
“People are more invested when they have agency,” said Klein Aleardi, a researcher with MIT Sloan. “Engagement follows empowerment.”
10. Align Incentives With Impact, Not Just Output
Finally, engagement thrives when reward systems reflect real contributions—not just hours logged or superficial metrics.
That means rethinking what’s measured. More organizations are moving away from traditional KPIs and embracing OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) tied to mission-driven outcomes.
“When people see that the system rewards the right things, they’re more likely to commit to it,” said Bersin.
A Strategy, Not a Perk
The most successful engagement efforts share one thing in common: they’re treated not as perks, but as strategic pillars—interwoven with hiring, communication, performance management, and culture.
As the nature of work evolves, so too must the ways employers engage their teams. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. But the organizations investing in meaningful engagement—backed by data, defined by purpose, and centered on people—are already seeing returns that go beyond the bottom line.
