What Is Employee Engagement and Why Have Its Drivers Changed?
Our research team asked a fundamental question: When organizations measure employee engagement, are they all measuring the same thing? To find out, we conducted a panel study with 3,900 employees across industries, job types, and demographic groups, testing engagement questions from Perceptyx, Gallup Q12, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), and several other common approaches. The results, combined with a decade of driver data from our benchmark database of over 20 million responses, tell a story about both what engagement is and how it has evolved.
Do Different Engagement Measures Capture the Same Thing?
The short answer: partially. Our panel study found strong correlations among several engagement items across vendors. Advocacy and pride items from Perceptyx correlated highly with similar questions from other major providers, suggesting overlap in what these tools capture.
However, measures derived from academic models like UWES and the Individual-State Alignment (ISA) framework showed weaker links to action-oriented items like intent to stay or recommend. The UWES emphasizes psychological states such as vigor, dedication, and absorption. Organizational sentiment measures focus on pride, advocacy, and retention intent. These represent distinct constructs, not interchangeable metrics.
The practical implication: leaders should avoid assuming that engagement scores from one tool can directly inform conclusions about another. While applied utility may make these scores appear equivalent, the theoretical foundations differ enough to warrant caution when benchmarking across platforms or switching vendors.
The Perceptyx Engagement Index, which measures advocacy, pride, personal accomplishment, and intent to stay, demonstrated internal consistency and strong associations with external measures. The items most strongly associated with engagement in our panel matched the top drivers identified in our benchmark database, reinforcing the construct validity of this approach.
What Drove Engagement Before the Pandemic?
From 2016 through 2019, the same themes dominated our top engagement driver rankings:
- I feel valued as an employee of the company.
- My current responsibilities are positioning me for a successful career here.
- There are career opportunities for me at the company.
- When I do an excellent job, my accomplishments are recognized.
Employees evaluated their engagement through a lens of advancement and investment. Organizations could earn commitment through clear career paths, fair promotion practices, and visible recognition of contributions. The implicit contract sounded straightforward: help me grow, treat me fairly, recognize my work, and I will bring my full effort.
That foundation did not disappear after 2020. But it no longer defines the center of gravity.
Why Did Belonging Surge After 2020?
Belonging barely registered in top driver rankings before COVID-19. The shift came quickly.
In 2021, "I feel like I really belong at our company" entered the top five engagement drivers. From 2022 through 2024, it held the number one position. In 2025, it dropped to number four as other concerns moved ahead.
This pattern reflects more than a reaction to remote work and social isolation. The belonging surge aligned with intensified focus on inclusion, equity, and psychological safety across organizations. Employees tested whether their organizations were places where they could fit, feel respected, and feel safe to be themselves.
By 2025, belonging remained a strong driver without occupying the top spot alone. That decline in rank does not signal diminished importance. Other issues now feel more urgent to employees, particularly security and confidence in organizational direction. Leaders should treat belonging as a baseline cultural expectation rather than a differentiating initiative.
How Did Confidence in Leadership Become So Critical?
For years, items about clarity of direction and senior leadership did not appear in top engagement driver lists. Employees focused on their local experience rather than enterprise leadership decisions.
That pattern changed in 2021 when "I have confidence in Senior Management" broke into the top five for the first time. Its trajectory since then:
- Number four in 2021, 2022, and 2023
- Number three in 2024
- Number two in 2025
In an environment of economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability, and constant restructuring headlines, employees want evidence that senior leaders know where the organization is headed, have a credible plan to get there, and make decisions aligned with stated values.
Where employees lack confidence in senior management, they hesitate to fully engage, withhold discretionary effort, and doubt long-term organizational success. Where confidence runs high, employees show greater willingness to commit even during volatile conditions.
Our research on frontline workers shows that employees further from organizational leadership feel less confident about company direction. This distance effect makes transparent, consistent communication from senior leaders essential rather than optional.
Why Does Change Management Now Top the Driver List?
The most dramatic shift in recent years involves how organizations manage change. In 2023, items related to support during change entered the top drivers, including manager support for adaptation efforts. By 2024, "Change is handled effectively in my company" appeared in the top five. In 2025, that same item reached the number one engagement driver position.
This ranking reflects the realities employees face: layoff and restructuring anxiety, generative AI and automation adoption, rapid strategy shifts, and a labor market that swings between shortage and surplus.
The data reveals a growing divide. Employees in organizations that manage change well report far higher engagement and optimism. They feel informed, supported, and treated with respect even when facing difficult news. Employees in organizations that handle change poorly feel confused, disposable, and wary.
Effective change management now requires clear explanations of why change happens, specific detail on team and individual impacts, visible support for managers translating and implementing changes, and space for employees to ask questions and express concerns. Change no longer functions as background noise. It has become the primary lens through which employees judge their experience.
What Happened to Career Growth and Recognition?
One sobering pattern appears in the recent trajectory of career and recognition items. After years at the top of driver rankings, career growth and feeling valued fell out of the top five entirely in 2023 and 2024. They re-entered in 2025 only at number five, behind change effectiveness, confidence in senior management, belonging, and security concerns.
Feedback from clients and employees suggests a mindset shift. Before, employees asked whether they could build a career and whether the company would invest in them. Now, many first ask whether they will still have a job in 90 days.
Frederick Herzberg's two-factor theory offers a useful frame. Job security, reasonable policies, and competent leadership function as hygiene factors. When they fall short, they create dissatisfaction and crowd out motivation. Career growth and recognition function as motivators that boost engagement when basics feel secure but cannot compensate for threat perceptions.
Our data suggests many organizations have not yet met that baseline. Employees still want growth and appreciation, but first they want stability and trust.
What Should Leaders Prioritize for 2026?
The ten-year trend tells a clear story. Employees have shifted from asking "How can I grow here?" to asking "Can I trust this organization to navigate uncertainty with me?" Leaders who recognize that shift can respond in practical ways.
Treat change as a shared journey. Build structured routines around change: early communication, manager toolkits, Q&A forums, and feedback loops. Explain the reasoning behind decisions, outline the path forward, and acknowledge the human impact of each choice.
Earn confidence through consistent action. Increase transparency about priorities, tradeoffs, and outcomes. Align decisions with the values employees are asked to embrace. Close the loop on past commitments so people see that promises matter.
Protect belonging as cultural foundation. Continue listening to groups that experience exclusion or lower psychological safety. Equip leaders and managers with repeatable behaviors that reinforce inclusion in meetings, feedback conversations, and daily interactions.
Rebuild space for careers and recognition. Recommit to career conversations, internal mobility, and development opportunities even in lean years. Make recognition specific and connected to impact rather than generic praise. Signal that the organization sees a future with each employee rather than just short-term output.
Ready to Understand What Drives Engagement in Your Organization?
The full findings from our engagement research, including detailed driver analysis and practical recommendations, are available in our latest report. Download Anticipating Success: Understanding and Activating Employee Engagement to access the data and build an engagement strategy grounded in what employees actually need in 2026.