Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report indicates a two year decline in employee engagement across the globe that is costing the world economy $10 trillion per annum in lost productivity. That is just under R165 trillion. This staggering figure needs urgent attention as most organisations (and sadly, human beings) are operating at a fraction of their potential.
The good news is that the fix is not as hard as you might think because the cause of the problem has less to do with products and services and more to do with organisational culture.
Simply put, engagement is the willingness an employee has to show up and do their best work. Low engagement results in higher absenteeism, higher attrition rates, limited innovation, increased errors, safety incidents and limited ownership. Up to 80% of employees are pitching up to work but have one foot out the door. Imagine the potential that would be realised if all workers brought their whole self to work.
These research results are nothing new. Engagement stats have never risen much above 20% and have plateaued over the past 5 years. This is one of those rare scenarios where two parties want and need the same thing yet can’t work together to create it. Why?
In the past, organisational culture was limited to an annual teambuilding session or conference. Somewhere along the line we linked into ‘Google culture’ and some organisations added enticing perks and benefits like free food, concierge services, chill pods and gym classes. These were used to stimulate engagement, yet engagement continued to drop.
That is because people join an organisation but leave its culture and cultures, reflected by these engagement figures, have stagnated. A contributing factor here was the Covid-19 pandemic which catalysed a rise in daily negative emotions. These levels remain elevated. Another factor is the drop in leadership engagement. Given the influence leaders have on an organisations culture, it makes sense that engagement would decline when leaders are leading from a place of burnout and disengagement.
So, what is culture?
Every environment has an emotional climate. It could be quiet, reactive, driven, frantic or calm. That emotional climate has nothing to do with the colour of the chairs. It has everything to do with how people within that context are behaving and interacting. That emotional climate is the culture.
Humans are social creatures. Since the dawn of civilisation, we have lived in communities. We all have a hard-wired need to belong; to be connected, to feel respected, valued, included and recognised. This explains why the number one form of punishment is solitary confinement.
Since organisations are a collection of humans, the health of an organisation’s culture is determined by the health of the relationships that exist between individuals, teams, leaders and departments. To improve engagement and productivity, invest less in chill pods and more in building authentic community.
This is a leadership function and leaders must evolve to get this right. Over the past two decades we have raised consciousness around key culture themes such as mental health and wellness, psychological and physical safety, diversity, inclusivity and belonging. But to truly infuse these concepts into an organisation’s DNA takes leaders who have moved on from traditional power-over leadership models to intentionally creating healthy community.
But who has time for this, I hear you ask? The pace of modern business is relentless and the job needs to get done. This is the wrong lens on this issue. In our fast-changing world where organisations require agility, ownership, innovation, performance and quality thinking, a healthy culture will deliver higher quality performance in these areas, and output will increase. Hammering away while achieving 60% of your potential makes no sense.
Building healthy cultures is about prioritising intrinsic human values and needs over extrinsic benefits. A traditional community includes frequent gatherings at which stories are shared, information is relayed, milestones are celebrated and social downtime is enjoyed. Beyond that, a community continues to work together daily in smaller groups, supporting one another and ensuring the environment thrives.
This points to two focus areas of a healthy culture: regular gatherings away from work and regular check-ins whilst at work. People do not thrive when they spend the whole day focussing on producing without intentional connection.
But how do leaders do this without it feeling forced and contrived? Two organisations I have partnered with that have shaped healthy cultures have seen significant benefit from a few simple actions: regular (not just annual) offsite leadership gatherings to share information, align strategically, discuss challenges, build capability, celebrate successes and connect socially.
They have then taken aspects of these sessions to the organisation through whole-company coffee catchups, interactive town halls, social events, departmental check-ins and the sharing of stories that bring organisational values to life. Again, this is regular not just annual. Alongside this, regular “ways of working” conversations between teams and individuals have helped ensure everyone gets what they need from one another to do their best work.
Over a period of four years, these companies have experienced increased year-on-year financial performance and growth, locally and internationally. At the core of both strategies has been meaningful, authentic connection and dialogue.
Culture doesn’t shift until healthy community takes root. This happens as regular spaces are intentionally created for humans to connect. The organisations that make time for this are the ones that thrive
Travis Gale is the Founder and Managing Director of Appletree Group, a company dedicated to helping organisations shape and sustain strong, healthy cultures.
Photo: Priscilla Du Preez
