Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2025 Report shows something every leader should care about—employee engagement just took a hit. Again. Only 21% of workers feel engaged at work, and managers aren’t doing much better. Their engagement dropped to 27%, with younger and female managers feeling it the most.
So, let me cut the chase. Are your people disengaged, but you can’t figure out why? You’re offering flexibility, giving out bonuses and perks, bringing in consultants to “fix culture”—yet your top talent is quietly quitting, and the energy in the office feels flat.
You’re not alone. Many senior leaders are realizing the traditional levers—comp, benefits, perks, and policy tweaks—aren’t moving the needle like they used to. So what gives?
It falls back on your leadership. Every. Single. Time.
More importantly, it’s a question of what your employees are experiencing (or not).
Pay Close Attention to the Employee Experience
Most CEOs assume that creating a great employee experience (EX) is about adding things: more perks, more wellness programs, more initiatives.
It’s not about adding more things. A memorable employee experience doesn’t start with HR or a retention strategy—it starts with you. The leader.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. What your employees will remember is how work felt. They remember who saw them, who heard them, and whether they felt like they mattered. Your leadership shapes that memory.
Remember the Maya Angelou quote we’ve all seen floating around the interwebs:
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
How to Make the Shift
I’m in the middle of coaching the executive team of a manufacturing company that woke up to the stark reality that their EX is broken. Seriously broken. Their people walk around like zombies and watch the clock so they can get out of work jail and back to freedom.
I connected the dots to help them understand that what leads to high employee engagement (the outcome they so desperately desire) starts with creating a memorable employee experience. A positive EX is what will get to high engagement, not the other way around. And that starts with leadership, not more programs.
Quick sidenote: Subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll gift you with a free 21-page white paper: “Four Strategies to Create an Impactful Employee Experience.” No strings attached.
Here are four core shifts leaders need to make to create a memorable employee experience.
1. Forget the perks. Think purpose.
People don’t stay for the free coffee or hybrid work arrangement—they stay for the story they’re part of. Are you connecting daily tasks to a meaningful outcome? Make purpose a felt, not just stated, part of the culture.
2. Stop managing performance. Start advancing careers.
Managing performance is useful, and your people need it to reach their goals and meet business objectives. But people crave opportunities for learning and skill development even more. Are they being offered career advancement opportunities? Do they feel like they can move into different roles and departments within the organization–like there’s a sense of career progression?
3. Go from managing workers to connecting with people.
The best employee experiences are human-centered. Managers connect with employees to make them feel included in decisions and part of a collaborative community. They recognize and reward their people’s contributions. Do your employees feel acknowledged and appreciated? Or treated like numbers?
4. Have presence.
You don’t need another platform to track your engagement numbers. You need to show up with leadership presence. Walk your four corners. Openly admit mistakes. Validate concerns. Jump into conversations. Ask people who they are doing. Show curiosity. Here’s a question to consider asking every day: “What’s making work harder than it needs to be?” Then, listen and act on what changes need to take place.
If you’re in a leadership role now, what do you feel you need to do to create a good employee experience?