We all know employee engagement is important. Engaged employees are not only productive and efficient, they spread their optimism to others and contribute to a better company culture and healthier bottom line. What’s not so obvious is how to go about increasing employee engagement. Companies throw around terms like “culture,” “morale,” and “recognition” to proclaim themselves as worthy of engaged employees, but these aren’t magic words that will unlock your workforce’s potential.  

Here’s the thing: companies need to have employee engagement strategies that are readily apparent to employees and measured for effectiveness. You can’t just have one or two company picnics or send out a couple of employee satisfaction surveys, then call it a day. Let’s be real: employees see right through that. So what should you do instead? Let’s address that by examining five not-so-fun facts about employee engagement—and what to do about them. 

1. Only 31% of employees are actively engaged. 

If you think your employees live and breathe your company goals, I hate to break it to you: only about 31% of them are “actively engaged,” according to a 2023 Gartner study. The rest? They’re coasting.  

Being “actively engaged,” as defined by the Gartner study I mentioned, means employees feel energized, find purpose in what they do, and feel empowered to do valuable work. These employees go above and beyond because they feel valued and connected to their work. 

What can you do about it? 

Offer meaningful rewards that make your company values tangible. 

Corporate values and company culture are intangible ideas. You can’t see, touch, or feel them. Unless you offer a rewards and recognition program that embodies who you are as a company. An effective employee rewards program uses rewards as symbols of your company culture and brand values. No, I don’t mean branded mugs or the occasional office pizza party. Personal, meaningful recognition is key.  

• Offer employees debit and gift card rewards they can use to purchase the things that mean the most to them—whether it’s a birthday present for their nephew or a cappuccino from their favorite java joint. 

• Recognize employees’ efforts with a highly personalized reward program. At Extu, we call ours Uniquely Yours and we use it to help companies reward participants with anything they want, from home renovations to Taylor Swift tickets (yes, really). 

• Reward employees with points they can redeem in an online catalog with millions of items. It’s just like shopping on Amazon, except the whole process—from earning their points to receiving their item—reminds them that their company puts their money where their mouth is when it comes to recognizing employees. 

2. Employee feedback without follow-up is worse than no feedback. 

Here’s another unfun fact for you: employees don’t think you’ll listen to them when they give you feedback. In fact, only one-third of employees believe their organization will act on their input, while 46% wish their companies would take more action. What happens when employees see their feedback ignored? You guessed it: engagement plummets. 

What can you do about it? 

Answer employee feedback with action. 

The solution is simple but often overlooked because change is sometimes painful: act on the feedback. Many leaders fall into the trap of thinking that taking action based on employee feedback makes them look weak or caters to those who don’t have all the facts. This is an out-of-date philosophy. Employees are the ones in the trenches, dealing with the day-to-day obstacles that leaders know nothing about. Trust them when they tell you how to make things better.  

A rewards program can be tied to improvements in team morale and workflow. For example, when employees provide input that leads to reduced friction or better processes, make sure they’re recognized—and rewarded—for their contributions. Offer rewards publicly at company meetings or events. Engaging in dialogue and offering tangible rewards can bridge the gap between feeling heard and feeling valued. Make your feedback responses visible and take pride in them, because it makes you a trustworthy company employees will engage with. 

3. Employee engagement is harder if employees are “deskless.” 

When you think of an “average employee,” what do you imagine? Someone sitting at a desk in a corporate or home office? Get ready for a shock. The vast majority (70-80%) of employees are “deskless.” They work in field service, logistics, or construction roles, and engaging them requires a completely different approach. Deskless workers don’t always have access to traditional forms of communication or company events they can attend.  

What can you do about it? 

Reach out to deskless employees with meaningful rewards. 

Reward programs can be just the bridge you need to engage your deskless employees and channel partners. By offering rewards tailored to the needs of deskless employees, you can become more than a logo or a name on their tax return.   

All the reward strategies listed in fact #1 apply here. Consider the following additional reward strategies for deskless employee engagement: 

• Performance-based incentives, such as sales promotion rewards. 
• Contests with public leaderboards, recognizing those who exceed team key performance indicators (KPIs) and company goals. 
• Team-building events promoting in-person learning and relationship-building.  

4. Stress is the dominant negative emotion among employees. 

What can you do about it? 

Focus on improving job flexibility, job security, and health support. 

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found three things that meaningfully reduce employee stress: job flexibility, job security, and health support: 

5. Managers are more stressed and disengaged than their teams. 

It’s probably not earth-shattering news to you that many employees struggle with mental health and stress. But here’s something you probably don’t know: managers are more likely than their teams to be stressed, lonely, and disengaged. And since 70% of team engagement is directly tied to the manager, a burned-out manager can disengage the whole team or department. 

What can you do about it? 

Improve leader-member exchanges. 

This advice may seem counter-intuitive at first, but you should encourage employees to “manage their boss.” You might be thinking “Won’t that make managers more stressed?” If done correctly, no. It shouldn’t be an invitation to vent or a complaints free-for-all. It’s about employees giving constructive feedback to managers, helping them see blind spots they might miss.  

Here are a couple of leadership theories that can help decrease manager stress:  

Again, rewards and incentives can play a big role here—use rewards and public recognition opportunities to acknowledge employees who step constructively up to help their managers succeed. This is how you make your commitment to employee engagement and wellbeing visible and tangible. 

Conclusion 

Picture a workplace where employees don’t just show up for the paycheck—they’re energized, engaged, and genuinely invested in your company’s success. Feedback turns into action, and recognition is a core part of your culture, not a buzzword. It’s not a pipe dream—it’s what happens when you stop doing the bare minimum and start giving your team the recognition they deserve, with rewards and policies turn make your commitment to employees into something they can feel and see for themselves.