Insufficient training for managers has diminished workforce engagement for the second time in 12 years, equating to $438 billion in lost productivity, an annual Gallup survey showed.
Global employee engagement fell from 23% in 2023, to 21% in 2024 — the first fall registered since the pandemic in 2020, Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report found. Managers, particularly women and young managers (under 35), experienced the sharpest decline in engagement (from 30% in 2024 to 27%).
Across regions, the US and Canada had the top employee engagement (31%), and Europe scored the lowest (13%), with only 16% of managers engaged at work last year, the report said. Europe remains the least engaged region for the fifth year running, a news release said.
Seventy per cent of a team’s engagement is attributable to their manager, the report asserted. “Countries with less engaged managers are more likely to have less engaged individual contributors … if managers are disengaged, their teams are, too.”
The relationship between engagement and wellbeing
Declining levels of engagement didn’t come in a vacuum. Managers also experienced the largest decline in wellbeing, according to the report.
While more managers (37%) than employees (31%) said they were thriving at work, managers reported suffering from stress (42% vs. 39%) and loneliness (23% vs. 22%) more often, and they had greater intentions to leave organisations (51%) than employees (49%).
The challenges of external pressures outside of work, such as rising housing costs from inflation, may have also had a significant impact on overall wellbeing, the report said.
However, “when we consider the decline in both manager life evaluations and employee engagement, a deteriorating workplace environment is the common denominator,” the report said.
Managers: Dealing with unprecedented disruption
Over the last five years, managers have been stuck in the middle of unprecedented disruption they don’t have the resources to tackle, the report found. Those changes include rapidly restructured teams and departments and new employee desires regarding flexibility and remote work.
“Since the pandemic, managers have been asked to square the circle of new executive demands and employee expectations,” the report said. “We are starting to see the toll.”
Another explanation for decreased engagement, particularly amongst younger managers, is the global decline in manager development training. Teaching managers “effective coaching techniques” can boost their performance by 20% to 28%, the report said.
Overall, less than half of managers worldwide (44%) said they have received the training required to do their jobs. Gallup found that even basic training for management roles can significantly reduce disengagement.
“If manager engagement continues to decline, it won’t stop with managers, and it won’t stop with engagement. The productivity of the world’s workplace is at risk,” the report said. “The choice for executives is simple: Invest in the future of management or risk the consequences of inaction.”
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.
