A Culture of a Motivated and Engaged Workplace Is Built in the Small, Invisible Moments
We throw around the word culture in organizations so often that it has almost lost its meaning. And yet, we all know what it feels like to work in a culture that is stagnant, stressful, or draining. We also know the difference when we are part of a culture that brings out the best in us.
What many leaders and managers yearn for is a culture of engagement.
But what is engagement?
Engagement is the degree of involvement and enthusiasm employees have for their work and their workplace. Employees with high levels of engagement are more productive and more effective in reaching goals. They experience lower absenteeism and turnover, and they are more likely to collaborate, innovate, and contribute beyond what is formally required of them.
In short, when organizations want to improve performance, they must focus on engagement.
Unfortunately, the American—and global—workplace is not engaged. A staggering 69 percent of employees are not engaged at work, and 17 percent of employees are actively disengaged (often described as “quiet quitters”). What’s more concerning is that this engagement gap has been trending for more than a quarter of a century.
What’s driving this disengagement? As you can imagine, there is no single cause. Many factors are at play.
One of those factors is generational difference. Expectations of work have changed significantly over time. Generation Z and younger Millennials bring different expectations to the workplace than Baby Boomers and Generation X. Millennials and Gen Z tend to prioritize work-life balance and well-being and want more flexibility and control over their schedules. They are also more likely to seek a sense of purpose and meaning in their work.
Generation X often values independence, autonomy, and self-directed work, while Baby Boomers tend to value loyalty, stability, and institutional knowledge. Today, four generations are working together—often within systems that were designed for a very different era.
At the same time, the workplace itself has not evolved quickly enough to meet these changing expectations. In the past, engagement was often driven by a paycheck, a good boss, an annual performance review, and the opportunity to feel satisfied with one’s job. It was enough for work to be a central source of fulfillment.
Today, employees want more. They want to understand their purpose, see how they are developing over time, experience managers as coaches rather than evaluators, and engage in ongoing—not annual—conversations about their work. And increasingly, people are evaluating work not just based on the job itself, but on how work fits into their lives outside of it.
So how can managers and leaders improve engagement—motivation and enthusiasm—when there is so much diversity of thought, experience, and expectation?
They can start with proven practices of engagement.
In fact, research shows that managers account for up to 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement. In other words, engagement is shaped far less by large initiatives or formal programs and far more by what managers say, do, and prioritize every day.
Some of the most effective engagement practices include:
Giving employees the opportunity to do what they do best every day by creating space to lean into strengths
Recognizing employees at least a few times each month for doing good work
Helping employees understand how their work connects to the mission or purpose of the organization
Ensuring supervisors and managers express genuine care and interest in employees as people
Making sure someone is encouraging each employee’s development and having meaningful progress conversations at least twice a year
Helping employees build strong connections with their peers
Providing specific opportunities to learn and grow
What’s important to notice is that none of these practices are delivered through a large training program or a week-long team-building retreat. They are delivered in the small, everyday moments of work.
In a one-on-one conversation, when a manager asks, “Tell me more about the work where you feel strongest,” and then takes the time to identify and leverage those strengths.
In a team meeting, where employees are recognized for their contributions and leaders help connect daily work to the broader mission.
In an email sent after a tough week that simply expresses care, appreciation, and concern for the team.
The daily engagement of employees is a shared responsibility. Leaders set the vision and model what engagement looks like. Managers—who influence the majority of engagement outcomes—shape the day-to-day experience of work. And employees play a role by communicating their needs and advocating for what helps them stay motivated and engaged.
The work of building a highly engaged and motivated culture does not happen in grand gestures. It begins in the small, often invisible communications teams have with one another every day.
The 15-minute check-in.
The team meeting.
The one-on-one conversation.
When managers consistently show up with curiosity, care, and intention in these moments, culture begins to shift—quietly, steadily, and sustainably. If you want to build a culture of engagement, start by paying attention to the small, everyday moments where people feel seen, valued, and supported.