At Orion, we’ve been busy tuning into the latest workplace trends reported in Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace report. From the economic significance of employee engagement and wellbeing to the importance of managers in fostering that, the report’s numerous findings can help organisations across the globe become more cohesive, effective and prosperous.
Curious to find out more? Discover Gallup’s key findings here.
The role of work in mental health
A staggering 20% of the world’s workforce experiences daily loneliness. Younger workers – individuals aged 35 and under – are more prone to these feelings, as are fully remote employees who report feeling 9% more lonely than their hybrid or office-based colleagues.
Chronic loneliness spreads. In addition to having detrimental impacts on people’s physical and mental health, it can also impact wider society.
Reduced employee wellbeing results in poorer workplace engagement and lower organisational productivity. This costs the global economy $8.9 trillion annually, approximately equal to 9% of GDP.
But the workplace can be a solution. Work can remedy loneliness: across all age groups, employed adults state feeling less lonely (20%) than those who are unemployed (32%). Social interaction is a byproduct of the workplace – whether in person or digitally – which results in better mental health for all involved.
With greater social status and higher levels of pay, managers are more likely to be engaged in the workplace than non-managers, but at a cost. Additional responsibility translates to higher levels of stress, sadness and loneliness, in turn leading to lower levels of job satisfaction.
That’s why nurturing managers is so crucial.
Gallup shows that more engaged managers lead to more engaged employees and, therefore, stronger team dynamics. Providing goal setting, accountability and regular, meaningful feedback are just some of the ways managers can help to do this.
Better for people, better for the organisation
Successful organisations – in which best practices occur – report high levels of engagement in 75% of managers and 70% of non-managers.
“Our manager helps a lot and gives us positive energy every day. He teaches us how to do things better,” says Tahnoon, an industrial engineer from the UAE. Canada-based project manager, Olivia, agrees.
“A good job is a job where I have a manager who knows me, sees and values what I do, and cares about where I’m going in the future.”
Engaged employees also have a positive ripple effect across the organisation, driving numerous outcomes for the better, including:
● 78% decrease in absenteeism
● 63% reduction in accident-related safety incidents
● 58% reduction in mortality- and fall-related safety incidents
● 23% increase in profitability.
With the right strategy, all organisations can boost engagement
To achieve more engaged employees, regional context matters. Employees who reside in countries with established labour rights laws report feeling the highest levels of emotional health, for example.
But organisations in all sectors and countries can achieve improved levels of engagement through thoughtful strategising. Gallup even highlights that not all of the high-engagement organisations they feature started out that way.
Companies that fostered high levels of engagement shared the following:
● Prioritised management hiring and development process
● Emphasis on wellbeing – in work and in life
● Engagement was considered in every aspect of the employee life cycle – from hiring and onboarding to daily meetings and development.
