Hey HR folks!👋

We need to talk about engagement.

Again.

Except this time, it is not about launching another survey or refreshing the dashboard. Engagement is hovering around 31% in the US and 21% globally, and most employees are still looking for another job.

HR leaders are sitting on more data than ever, yet employees are asking a simple question: what changed because we spoke up?

Let’s unpack what real action looks like 📊

Today’s edition is presented by SelectSoftware Reviews

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Payroll is supposed to be predictable. If it’s stressful every cycle, something’s off! 😵 

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SSR’s HR Software Advisor can help you rethink your payroll software. You’ll talk to someone who knows the payroll software market inside out and can point you toward alternative options that match your current structure, growth plans, and compliance needs.

👇️ Coming up

In today’s edition

📊 Engagement data is not a strategy

🛋️ The break room: What is the biggest gap in your engagement strategy right now?

📚 Human readsources: Haribo gets jury win against employee, employers to adopt worker cooperatives and employee stock ownership plans, JPMorgan CEO: AI has ‘displaced people;’

💭 Opening thoughts

📊 Engagement data is not a strategy

Engagement is stuck. Most employees are not fully connected to their work, and a large share are still scanning for other opportunities. That signals risk.

The deeper issue is not survey participation or response rates. It is stalled follow through. Employees keep saying the same things about clarity, development, and communication, and too often the operating model stays the same.

Engagement shapes performance management, succession strength, manager capability, and retention costs. When expectations are unclear and growth feels vague, productivity drops and leadership pipelines weaken.

This is about moving from measurement to management. Let’s unpack what is breaking down and how HR can build engagement into the way work actually runs.

For easy reading

🧠 Let’s unpick

Organizations are collecting more engagement data than ever. 📊 Pulse surveys, quarterly reads, dashboards with trend lines for days. And yet, employees are still telling us the same story. 🤔 

• 47% strongly agree they know what is expected of them

• 31% say someone encourages their development

• 28% feel their opinions count

• 32% feel connected to mission or purpose

That is not a data problem. That is an execution problem.

Step back and the bigger picture gets uncomfortable. US engagement is hovering around 31% to 32%, down from 36% in 2020. Globally, it is 21%. Managers drive roughly 70% of team engagement variance, yet only 27% of managers are engaged themselves. Meanwhile, 51% of employees are actively looking or keeping an eye on other roles.

We are measuring engagement more frequently while the fundamentals of clarity, development, and voice continue to erode. That tension is the real headline.

From an HR strategy lens, this maps cleanly to core systems 🧭

• Role clarity is a performance management design issue

• Development gaps are a capability and succession risk

• Employees not feeling heard signals a governance and leadership transparency gap

Surveys surface patterns. Systems determine whether anything changes. Engagement moves when it is embedded into how leaders run their teams, not when it lives in a report.

You can read more at...

🔗 U.S. Employee Engagement Declines From 2020 Peak

🔗 Giving employees agency in 2026

🎬 Lights, camera, action!

Takeaway (and try this 👇)

1. 🔍 Assign executive owners to each major engagement driver and require quarterly updates on progress tied to business outcomes.

2. 🧑‍💼 Redesign manager training around weekly coaching conversations, clear expectation setting, and documented development plans.

3. 📊 Audit role clarity across functions and require leaders to define what exceptional performance looks like for each role.

4. 🛠️ Establish cross functional engagement panels with authority to recommend and implement one visible improvement every 60 days.

5. 📈 Embed engagement metrics into leadership performance reviews so accountability is structural, not symbolic.

👀 Too long didn’t read

TLDR

Engagement is declining even as measurement improves. The problem is not data scarcity but execution discipline. HR’s next frontier is designing systems that convert feedback into clear ownership, faster action, and stronger manager capability. Engagement improves when it is embedded into how work actually runs.

☕The break room

What’s your take?

Webinar Happening Tomorrow | Forging Leaders: HR’s Role in Leadership Development

This session focuses on how HR can move beyond generic promotion programs and take real ownership of building leaders who are equipped for today’s and tomorrow’s workplaces.

The conversation will be practical, grounded in real org challenges, and honest about what usually goes wrong.

📚 Additional reading

Human Readsources

1. Haribo wins discrimination and retaliation jury case — A federal jury sided with Haribo in a Title VII case, reinforcing how separation agreements, protected activity, and termination definitions can make or break employer litigation risk.

2. JPMorgan CEO says AI has displaced workers — Jamie Dimon confirmed AI-driven job displacement is already happening, with JPMorgan actively redeploying talent while most companies focus only on AI upskilling.

3. DOL encourages adoption of ESOPs — The federal government is pushing wider ESOP adoption as participation grows 8%, positioning employee ownership as a long-term wealth and retention strategy.

That’s it for today.

Thanks for reading to the end and we hope today’s edition sparked some new ideas for your workplace! 🧠

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