Your biggest driver of engagement '26

Intro

Research (from DHR Global) for 2026 shows that the proportion of employees with high levels of engagement has plummeted from 88% to 64% (68% in Europe) this year. Imagine what that's going to do to your productivity in the year when you'll be trying harder than ever to get more value out of every dollar on your payroll.

Indeed, Richard Partington of the Guardian reported yesterday (5.1.26) that Ruth Curtice, CEO of the Resolution Foundation said that 2026 could be remembered as a 'turning point year' by future economists, where tougher operating conditions kill off struggling firms and more productive ones replace them.

The good news is that there's one driver of engagement that's streets ahead of the rest to kickstart your new year.

What’s the issue?

1. Disengagement is being led by overwhelming workload, a lack of reward and recognition, and boredom.

2. 2025 was a monster year for uncertainty, driven by the likes of volatile tariffs and the exponential rise of AI. The result has been chaos, with responses ranging from 'pull up the drawbridge' to 'carpe diem'.

3. Employees feel less secure, and at the same time are being 'asked' to deliver more. Leaders are running around trying to make sense of what's going on externally, which is reducing their focus on what's going on internally.

4. Priorities are changing at short or no notice. Reasons are vague or non-existent. The job market is tight so people aren't leaving, but that compounds their sense of being trapped, dumped on and not listened to.

Consider this

1. 63% of employees identify remote/hybrid working as a key driver of engagement. But that's only the runner-up spot. Streets ahead of them all, at 71%, is Professional Development.

2. From a career aspiration perspective, that includes more responsibilities. From a technical proficiency perspective it means the CPD needed to stay current. And for leaders, it means leadership development. And at the risk of stating the obvious, developing your leaders is by a country mile the most effective way to drive engagement, because it doesn't just engage the leaders themselves, it engages everyone they lead.

3. 2026 has already started a volatile and uncertain year of change, where you will again need your people to go yet another extra mile along a road that will behave like the staircases at Hogwarts.

4. Look after the people and the people will work after the work. Yes, of course you need to be extra-curious about your external environment, in order to keep flexing your agile strategy. But remember that as the going gets tougher, you will need with you people who are fired up and tough enough to get going.

5. If you're not developing your leaders, you're not developing your engagement levels. Which means your productivity is limited, however much you spend on AI this year.

Try this

Decide whether or not this year is going to be the right time to invest in leadership development. Either way, make it a fully conscious and transparent decision.