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In 2024, Gallup reported that low worker engagement is costing U.S. firms an estimated $1.9 trillion in misplaced productiveness. The message is obvious: The way you have interaction your staff is not nearly morale — it is about efficiency, retention and long-term development.
Early in my profession, I did not assume a lot about worker engagement. To be trustworthy, I did not anticipate a lot from my employers both. My mindset was easy: Work exhausting, ship outcomes, receives a commission, get promoted. That was the implicit contract. Effort and time in change for cash and energy. It was the Nineties, and that was thought of regular, particularly on this planet of enterprise software program gross sales.
There is a well-known line from Mad Males the place Don Draper responds to a subordinate’s request for appreciation with: “That is what the cash is for.” It captures a sure mindset of management — outcomes over relationships, management over connection.
I lived that mindset for years.
However over time, as I rose via the ranks and led bigger groups, I began to note one thing: I used to be not motivated simply by cash. Throughout my years at Citrix, the motto, per our CEO Mark Templeton, grew to become: “Work exhausting, play exhausting, get outcomes and have enjoyable doing it.” I wished to benefit from the work, study one thing new, really feel valued and chuckle with my teammates. And although I at all times gave 100% — even when these issues have been lacking — I started to comprehend that not everyone seems to be wired the identical. Nor ought to they be.
Associated: Prime 10 Worker Engagement Methods That Matter
The turning level
My first CEO function at getAbstract was a sport changer. All of the sudden, I used to be accountable not only for outcomes, however for tradition. We bought a product that gave firms entry to over 14,000 curated enterprise e-book summaries, together with one of the best considering on management and organizational effectiveness. Folks like Simon Sinek, Lisa McLeod, Ken Blanchard, Mark Miller, Stephen M.R. Covey and lots of extra have turn into common voices in our work and conversations.
As well as, our shoppers, principally (workplaces of the) CHROs at massive firms, put our answer to work inside their unimaginable organizations. Being surrounded by wonderful content material, clients, cultures and colleagues turns into my model of a complicated research in human habits at work.
By means of this, one thing clicked: The perfect leaders do not simply lead for outcomes; they lead with goal, which means and repair.
I grew to become intellectually curious. I started testing what I used to be studying — main with gratitude, aligning round goal, creating area for constructive suggestions and development. And the outcomes? Staff confirmed up with extra ardour. Clients seen the power. Gross sales grew. Revenue adopted.
What began as concept changed into apply. Follow changed into perception. Perception changed into who I’m as a frontrunner.
Associated: The Key to Worker Engagement Is Function. Here is Why — and How one can Foster It in Your Office.
Engagement is a enterprise technique
Too many leaders nonetheless consider engagement as a “nice-to-have” — a mushy talent or HR metric that does not straight connect with the underside line. I do know as a result of I was considered one of them.
However this is what I’ve discovered: Engagement isn’t fluff. It is a strategic lever for enterprise development.
When workers really feel seen, heard, challenged and appreciated, they carry what I name discretionary effort — that additional power and initiative that may’t be purchased, solely impressed. And whenever you create worth past wage — via recognition, goal, studying and belonging — folks aren’t always wanting elsewhere for extra. One other approach to consider it: Engagement is what makes folks really look ahead to Monday.
As MD Rafi, founder and CEO of Bison Life, informed me in an interview: “We began treating tradition like a product — one thing to design, construct and iterate. It was not about preserving folks pleased. It was about serving to them develop, take possession and really feel important to the mission.”
Engaged groups innovate extra. They promote extra. They keep longer. They entice nice expertise. They deal with the corporate like an proprietor would. It isn’t simply the correct factor to do; it is the sensible factor to do.
Investing in profession growth is not simply good for morale — it is a measurable enterprise benefit. A 2025 report from LinkedIn Studying discovered that firms with sturdy inside mobility and development applications expertise increased engagement, extra inside promotions and stronger management pipelines. With 88% of organizations now citing retention as a crucial concern, supporting worker growth has turn into a prime precedence for leaders who need to hold their greatest folks.
The flywheel of genuine management
In the present day, my staff and I coach leaders via this similar evolution. At first, we assist them see that engagement is a driver of efficiency. Then I encourage them to strive it — lead with extra goal, spend money on their folks and construct a tradition of which means. They usually see a right away carry. Folks reply.
After which one thing great occurs: They begin to like the best way it makes them really feel; good! Not simply the enterprise outcomes, however the power, connection and private achievement that come from main nicely.
What started as an experiment turns into a behavior. A brand new management model emerges — one which’s not simply efficient however genuine. And that authenticity creates a flywheel of belief, ardour and efficiency. We see this on a regular basis at nice firms we work with.
Restaurant Manufacturers Worldwide (RBI), the mum or dad firm of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, prioritizes a tradition that cares for its staff members so it may well translate into nice buyer experiences and enterprise efficiency. Jeff Housman, RBI’s Chief Folks & Providers Officer, emphasizes this connection: “Our tradition is constructed round hard-working, good individuals who care deeply about one another and the company we serve. When our staff members really feel supported and valued, they carry that very same care to each buyer interplay, making a cycle of positivity that drives our success.”
Freeman, one of many world’s main reside occasion and model expertise firms, exemplifies this strategy. Acknowledged twice as a Prime Workplaces USA winner in 2024 and 2025 amongst massive employers, Freeman’s dedication to embedding goal and innovation into its tradition has earned it a number of awards, together with honors for Management, Work-Life Flexibility and Function & Values.
Chair of the Board Carrie Freeman Parsons captures this ethos, stating, “It has been my lifelong expertise that occasions join folks in ways in which depart them extra impressed, higher knowledgeable and higher ready for what lies forward.” This values-driven mannequin has been widely known as a catalyst for worker engagement and long-term retention — demonstrating how goal, when embedded into day by day operations, can form a resilient and motivated workforce.
Associated: 6 Worker Engagement Suggestions for Sturdy Retention
In case you’re a frontrunner who’s nonetheless caught within the outdated mindset — in case you’re considering, “That is what the cash is for” — I encourage you to strive one thing new. Lead with goal. Begin with why. See how folks reply. Watch what occurs to your tradition, your clients and your organization.
You could be stunned by how nice it feels. And much more stunned by the outcomes.