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This guide covers employee engagement trends.
Strategies for a Dynamic Workforce
Explore the practical considerations behind employee engagement trends and how organizations can improve program outcomes.
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2025 is expected to be a year of continued economic resilience. Workplace trends continue to point to focusing on employee engagement and workplace satisfaction.
STRATEGIES FOR A DYNAMIC WORKFORCE
“The new retirement is no retirement: Baby boomers are keeping jobs well into their sixties and seventies because they ‘like going to work.’”
— Alicia Adamczyk – Fortune
Remarkably, nearly 20% of Americans aged 65 and older are employed, reflecting shifting retirement trends and a growing reliance on older workers to meet workforce demands.
Employee engagement in the U. S. dropped to its lowest point in a decade in 2024, with just 31% of employees feeling engaged—a level last recorded in 2014. Two indicators in the recent Gallup engagement measurement that have significantly declined are:
Strongly Agree that someone at work cares about them
Strongly Agree that someone at work encourages development
Expressing gratitude to employees can overcome negative perceptions and should become a key part of employee satisfaction efforts. Regularly acknowledging and expressing gratitude for employees’ contributions can have a significant impact on motivation, engagement, and overall job satisfaction. Higher satisfaction and higher engagement leads to better longevity.
Organizations that want to attract and keep a high-quality workforce continue to offer greater employment flexibility to appeal to and retain top talent. Hybrid and remote work will continue to be a factor despite some high-profile organizations that are mandating a return to the office. Hybrid work, a blend of in-office and remote, is on the rise and finding favor particularly among the workforce. Some organizations are attempting to force workers back into the office, but the journey back to the office has encountered its fair share of hurdles. Employees are not universally enthusiastic about the prospect of a full-time, in-office routine. Hybrid work is gaining broader appeal for job functions that can be successfully conducted remotely, at least partially. A ‘Beyond the Numbers’ article by the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that remote work neither hindered nor helped raise aggregate productivity growth. Remote work reportedly led to lower job turnover as job satisfaction rose, which could substantially reduce firms’ hiring costs.
Most important aspects of a job.
Data: FlexJobs survey of 8,400 professionals FlexJobs
Remote / On-Site work
Data: Barrero, Jose Maria, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J. Davis, 2021. “Why working from home will stick,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 28731
The rapid adoption of AI and automation has increased the demand for new skills. Companies are focusing on training programs to upskill existing employees and close skill gaps. Building talent in-house and promoting individuals within the organization lead to higher satisfaction and better employee-retention.
With five generations coexisting in the workforce, businesses are tailoring policies to meet diverse expectations, from tech-savvy Gen Z to experienced Baby Boomers.
“The new retirement is no retirement: Baby boomers are keeping jobs well into their sixties and seventies because they ‘like going to work.’”
— Alicia Adamczyk – Fortune
Generational Incentive Mistakes to avoid.
A strong job market means continued difficulty finding and retaining top talent. There are obvious elements that management and HR in particular should pay attention to. HR must continue to focus on policies for:
In addition, HR must focus on matching, if possible, employee preferences for where work is accomplished, and how often the office is required.
Incentives play a crucial role in boosting workforce enthusiasm, as well as in motivating and retaining top talent. Frequent incentives should be one important part of your strategy.
Ensure that your organization implements strategies to elevate employee satisfaction and ensure the retention of your most valuable team members. Incentives and rewards, by themselves, aren’t enough, of course. But they can be a crucial and memorable part of the work environment, especially as workers spend more time out of the office and away from daily one-on-one contact.
Provide interns with gift cards to popular online marketplaces, retail stores, or restaurants, allowing them to choose items or experiences they personally enjoy.
Provide “intern-choice” gifts of business-related items or technology that can help the intern advance their academic or professional roles. Items might be desk items like lamps or desk pads or computer related gear including chargers, keyboards, and the like.
Give the intern bragging rights with company-branded merchandise, such as t-shirts, water bottles, notebooks, or other items, as a memento of their time with the organization.
Regularly acknowledging and expressing gratitude for employees’ contributions can have a profound impact on their motivation, engagement, and overall well-being.
Incorporating incentives into your existing HR strategy can be an effective way to further cultivate a culture of appreciation and unleash the potential of gratitude in your workplace.
Incentives provide tangible and memorable rewards for employees’ contributions and reinforce the direct link between effort and recognition.
It’s just one step, often unexpected, but an important one.
American Psychological Association (APA)
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