How to Improve Employee Engagement and Boost Performance

What Are Your Employee Engagement Goals?
The need to improve employee engagement can sometimes feel like chasing a moving target.

• Expectations evolve.
• Workplace dynamics shift.
• Business pressures change quickly.

As a result, many organizations struggle to define what “good” engagement actually looks like.

After assessing organizational cultures for more than two decades, we have found that the most successful companies do not pursue perfection. Instead, they focus on meaningful and continuous improvement. They recognize that employee engagement is not a one-time initiative — it is an ongoing business discipline that directly influences:

• Employee performance.
• Employee retention.
• Customer satisfaction.
• Long-term growth.

Engaged Employees Are More Productive
While 100% employee engagement may never be realistic, every improvement matters. Even modest gains in engagement can create measurable business impact.

Our employee engagement survey research shows that engaged employees are more than 40% more productive and effective than disengaged employees. Highly engaged teams also demonstrate stronger collaboration, greater adaptability, and higher levels of discretionary effort — the willingness to go above and beyond what is required.

Gallup research reinforces this connection, finding that highly engaged business units experience significantly higher profitability, productivity, and customer loyalty compared to low-engagement teams.

The implication is clear: improving employee engagement is not simply an HR objective. It is a business performance strategy with direct bottom-line implications.

Improve Employee Engagement Using Research-Backed Leadership Strategies

So how do organizations strengthen employee loyalty, commitment to performance, and willingness to contribute discretionary effort?

Research consistently points to several foundational drivers.

1. Build Trust at Every Level
   Trust remains one of the strongest predictors of employee engagement.

   Employees who genuinely enjoy the people they work with often develop deeper emotional commitment to both their teams and the organization itself. But trust must extend beyond peer relationships. Employees also need confidence in leadership.

   They want to know:

   •  Are leaders competent and ethical?
   •  Do leaders communicate honestly and transparently?
   •  Are executives setting the right strategic direction?
   •  Are employee ideas and concerns welcomed and respected?

   Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological team safety demonstrates that employees perform at higher levels when they feel safe speaking openly, asking questions, and challenging ideas without fear of punishment.

   Leaders who acknowledge mistakes, communicate candidly, and share business realities — including challenges — create credibility. Hiding bad news or withholding information erodes confidence quickly and weakens engagement over time.

2. Share Both Successes and Challenges
   Transparency alone is not enough. Employees also want fairness.

   When organizations perform well, employees should feel connected to that success through recognition, rewards, growth opportunities, or shared wins. This creates a visible link between individual contribution and organizational performance.

   Conversely, during difficult periods, employees expect leaders to share accountability and sacrifice. Large disparities between executive rewards and employee experience can rapidly damage trust, morale, and loyalty.

   Employees are far more likely to remain engaged when leadership demonstrates consistency, humility, and shared responsibility.

3. Invest in Growth and Development
   Career development remains a major driver of engagement and retention.

   LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report found that employees who believe their organization invests in their development are significantly more likely to stay and grow with the company.

   While formal training matters, organizations should also encourage:

   •  Cross-functional experiences.
   •  Stretch assignments.
   •  Coaching and mentoring.
   •  Leadership development.
   •  Opportunities to build relevant soft skills.

   Employees who broaden their experiences across teams and functions often develop stronger collaboration, communication, and decision making capabilities. These skills not only improve performance but also prepare employees for future leadership opportunities.

The Bottom Line
Organizations that successfully improve employee engagement focus on the fundamentals first. They build cultures grounded in trust, transparency, shared accountability, and meaningful development opportunities. When employees feel valued, informed, and supported, they respond with stronger commitment, greater effort, and deeper loyalty.

To learn more about taking employee engagement to the next level, download Are Are You Engaging Employees — or Just Going Through the Motions?

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.