They have their own opinions expressed by business partners.
In 2024, Gallup reported that low employees’ engagement costs US companies as an estimated 9 1.9 trillion In lost productivity. The message is clear: How you add your team is not just about morale-it is about performance, maintaining and long-term growth.
At the beginning of my career, I didn’t think much about the engagement of employees. If you tell the truth, I did not expect more than my employers. My mentality was easy: work hard, provide results, pay, promote. It was a contract. Time and effort in exchange for money and power. It was the 1990s, and was considered common, especially in the world of enterprise software sales.
There is a famous line from there Mad men Where Don Draper responded to the request for definition of a subordinate request: “This is money.” It captures a particular leadership mentality.
I kept this mentality alive for years.
But over time, when I increased the ranks and led by large teams, I started to feel something: now I didn’t just encourage money. According to our CEO Mark Templeton, during his years in Sitrix, it became: “Work hard, play hard, get results and enjoy it.” I wanted to enjoy the work, wanted to learn something new, feel appreciated and laugh with my fellow fellow. And though I always gave 100 % – even when those things were missing – I began to realize that not everyone is the same. Nor should they be.
Related: The most important employees’ engagement strategy
Turning point
My first CEO role in Gatabestrick was the game changer. Suddenly, I was responsible for not only the results, but also for the culture. We sold a product that gave companies access to more than 14,000 curatic business books, including excellent thinking on leadership and organizational effectiveness. People like Simon Sank, Lisa McLeod, Ken Blancard, Mark Miller, Stephen Mr Kovi and many people have become a regular voice in our work and conversation.
In addition, our clients, mostly (offices of large corporations), offer their solution to work within their incredible organizations, in major corporations. Being surrounded by amazing materials, users, cultures and colleagues becomes my version of an advanced study in human behavior at work.
Through this, some clicks were clicked: The best leaders do not just lead the results. They guide with the purpose, meaning and service.
I was thoughtfully curious. I started examining what I was learning – with sugar, to align around the goal, create a place for constructive feedback and growth. And the results? Employees showed more fondness. Consumers saw the energy. Sales increased. After profit.
What began as a theory. The practice turned into a faith. The belief changed who I am as a leader.
Related: The key to employees’ engagement is a key purpose. Why is it here – and how to promote it in your workplace.
Engagement is a business strategy
Many leaders still think of engagement as “good to a”. I know because I was one of them.
But what I have learned is: engagement does not blow. This is a strategic lever for business growth.
When employees feel, heard, challenged and praised, what I call discretionary efforts – the extra energy and initiative that cannot be purchased, is only affected. And when you create a salary beyond salary – identity, purpose, learning, and related – people do not find more and more. Another way to think about it: engagement is the one that people are really looking forward to to Monday.
As Rafi, the founder and CEO of Benon Life, told me in an interview: “We started treating culture as a product – anything to design, build and repetition. It was no longer about keeping people happy. It was about to help them develop, take ownership and feel necessary for mission.”
Busy teams bring more innovations. They sell more. They last long. They attract great abilities. They treat the company as if the owner. This is not just the right thing. To do this is a smart thing.
Investing in carrier development is not just good for morale – this is a scale business benefit. A 2025 report Linked Learning has shown that companies with strong internal movement and growth programs face high engagement, more internal developments and strong led pipelines. 88 % of organizations have now termed maintaining a critical concern, has become a top priority for leaders who support employees’ development who want to maintain their best people.
Authentic Leadership Fly Wheel
Today, my team and my team coach the leaders through the same evolution. First, we help them that engagement is the driver of performance. Then I encourage them to try it – guide them with greater purpose, invest in their people and create a culture of meaning. They often see an instant lift. People respond.
And then something is amazing: they start to like the way they feel them. Good Not only business results, but also energy, contact and personal completion that move well.
What began as an experience becomes a habit. A new leadership style emerges – one that is not only effective but authentic. And this authenticity produces a fly wheel of confidence, passion and performance. We see it all the time in the great companies we work with.
Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the basic company of Burger King, Tim Hartins, Popez and Fire House Subs, prefers a culture that takes care of his team members so that they can translate into great experiences and business performance. RBI Chief Peoples and Services Officer Jeff Hasman has emphasized: “Our culture diligent, good people who take deep care about each other and are built around the guests we serve.
Freeman, one of the world’s leading direct event and brand experience companies, exemplifies this approach. In 2024 and the major employers were recognized twice as the winner of the USA winner in 2024, the fate of the Freeman has received numerous awards by embedded and innovating his culture, including the honor of leadership, flexibility and purpose and values ​​in work life.
Board Chair Carey Freeman Parsons, taking hold of the ethics, said, “It has been my lifetime experience that events connect people in the ways that they make, better informed and better preparations that are ahead.” This value-driven model has been widely recognized as a catalyst for employees’ engagement and long-term maintains-it shows how the purpose, when embedded in daily operations, can create a flexible and stimulating manpower.
Related: 6 points of employees’ engagement to maintain strong
If you are a leader who is still stuck in the old mind – if you are thinking, “That’s the money” – I encourage you to do something new. Guide with purpose. Why start See what people respond. See what happens to your culture, your customers and your company.
You may wonder how big it feels. And even more surprising than the results.