State of the
Global Workplace
T H E VO I C E O F T H E WO R L D ’ S E M P LOY E E S
RESE ARCH SUMMARY

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Table of Contents
From the CEO .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 1Executive Brief .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 2Research Summary. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 3Employee Mental Health: A Global Snapshot.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 4The Role of Economics and Policy in the Wellbeing of Workers. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 9The Role of the Manager in Worker Wellbeing and Organizational Performance . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 16iii

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report﻿

From the CEO“

And further still, people’s mental wellbeing has been worsening. In the last 10 years, the number ofpeople expressing stress, sadness, anxiety, anger or worry has been on the rise, reaching its highest
levels since the Gallup surveys began.”— 2023-2024 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT, UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMEThe global deterioration of mental health is concerning.
Some worry we’re spiraling out of control. United Nations
Secretary-General António Guterrez says, “Our worldis becoming unhinged.” Perhaps he’s being overly
pessimistic. After all, we’re living in the best time inhuman history. “Human progress is an observable fact,”
Harvard Professor Steven Pinker famously observed.

Popular solutions include wellbeing apps or stressmanagement training. Yet recent research by Oxford
University finds “little evidence in support of any
benefits from these interventions with even somesmall indication of harm.”
Mindfulness and wellbeing apps aren’t the problem,
but when bad management uses them as a fix, it canmake things worse. It’s understandable when you
consider that a major cause of workplace stress is
not having the materials and equipment you need to
do your job effectively. That problem can’t be solved
with a yoga mat; it requires action from management.
And the perception that organizations are investing inareas other than what employees need to get the job
done can exacerbate stress.

But what if both are right? If humanity’s mental healthis rapidly declining during a golden era of progress
and prosperity, it would present one of the greatest
paradoxes of our time.
If our collective mood hasn’t soured to historic
proportions, it’s soured enough to impact our daily lives.
Georgetown Professor Christine Porath finds that risingstress is causing a rapid increase in incivility at work. Thisis particularly worrying considering we spend most of
our lives working, second only to sleeping.

So, what works better? According to the Oxford study,“organisation-level initiatives such as improvements
in scheduling change, management practices, staff
resources or tailored job design.” In other words,
changing the way people are managed at theorganizational level.

In this year’s State of the Global Workplace report,
41% of employees report experiencing “a lot of stress.”
Yet stress varies significantly depending on howorganizations are run. Those who work in companies
with bad management practices (actively disengaged)
are nearly 60% more likely to be stressed than people
working in environments with good management
practices (engaged). In fact, experiencing “a lot ofstress” is reported approximately 30% more frequently
by employees working under bad management than by
the unemployed.

The global workplace can play a significant role inaddressing the world’s mental health crisis. As detailed
in this year’s report, changing how we manage peopleis critical for reducing stress at work and in life.

Leaders know workplace stress is a problem — they’veseen the data, heard it from their colleagues, andexperienced it themselves. A quarter of leaders feel
burned out often or always, and two-thirds feel it atleast sometimes. Many are trying to address it, but
often in ineffective ways.

Jon CliftonCEO

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report﻿

Executive Brief
Gallup estimates low employee engagement costs the global economy
8.9 trillion U.S. dollars, or 9% of global GDP.
PA R T I

Employee Mental Health: A Global Snapshot

01

Twenty percent of the world’s employees
experience daily loneliness. Loneliness ishighest for fully remote workers.

02

Wellbeing among younger employees
dropped in 2023.

03

Employee engagement is a significant
factor in overall life experiences.

PA R T I I

The Role of Economics and Policy in the Wellbeing of Workers

01
02

Countries where it is a good time to finda job have lower active disengagement— employees have the freedom to get
out of miserable work situations.
Some Labour Rights laws are associatedwith employees evaluating their present
overall life better.

03

Independent of labor laws, employee
engagement is associated with hopefor the future.

04

Not all Labour Rights laws are associated withemotional health in the same way. Engaged
employees in countries with labor laws aimed atfair wages, safe work, family responsibilities andmaternity report the lowest stress.

PA R T I I I

The Role of the Manager in Worker Wellbeing and Organizational Performance
Managers account for 70% of the variance in team employee engagement.

01

Managers have more negative daily experiences
than non-managers and are more likely to belooking for a new job.

02

Across countries, when managers are engaged,
employees are more likely to be engaged.

03

In best-practice organizations, three-fourths ofmanagers and seven in 10 non-managers are engaged.

When organizations increase the number of engaged
employees, they improve a host of organizational
outcomes, including profit, retention rates andcustomer service.

2

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

R E S E A R C H S U M M A RY

From Suffering to Thriving:
The Role of Work in Employee
Mental Health and Wellbeing
In 2023, global employee engagement stagnated,and overall employee wellbeing declined. Whileboth measures are at or near record highs, their lackof improvement is notable, as they follow multiple
years of steady gains. The result is that the majorityof the world’s employees continue to struggle
at work and in life, with direct consequences fororganizational productivity.

In this report, we examine the current state of
employee mental health and wellbeing at the
global level. Then, we examine economic andpolicy-related factors associated with employee
wellbeing, followed by manager-related factors forengagement at work and thriving in life overall.
As part of this report, we conducted follow-up
interviews with respondents from around the world
to learn more about their feelings regarding theirwork. Examples of their responses are included
throughout this Research Summary.

Gallup estimates that low employee
engagement costs the global economy
US$8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP.
What can leaders do to improve the health andproductivity of the world’s workforce?
ACT I V E LY D I S E N G AG E D

N OT E N G AG E D

E N G AG E D

“

“

“

I could push it, but I’m sofrustrated with the way things
are going that day that I’m

like, ‘You know what I’m gonna
do? I’m gonna do nothing.’”— STEVEN
Line Operator
CanadaI am getting a salary fromthis work. So, I have to do it,

but there is a bit of boredom
in doing the same work
every day.”— ARCHANA
Marketing SupervisorIndia

I really enjoy my job. I think
I work with really, reallyfantastic people, and thework that we do is really,
really meaningful.”— CALISTA
Contract Manager
Australia

Learn more about global, regionaland U.S. employee engagement data.
Explore data
3

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

PA R T I

Employee Mental Health:A Global Snapshot
01
02
03

Twenty percent of the world’s employees experience daily loneliness.
Wellbeing among younger employees dropped in 2023.
Employee engagement is a significant factor in overall life experiences.

4

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

Employees’ Perspectives on Mental Health““

My work can contribute to stress, and it can also
contribute to a sense of satisfaction. And theybalance each other out to the point that I don’t
feel like I need to make a change.”— JACK
Art and VFX Director“

Recently, my mother passed away; [myorganization] supported me in every way inminutes. That’s why I’m satisfied; they treat [a]human as a human being.”“

Georgia

If I’m not doing well at work, I’m not doing well inlife. It’s just the way it is.”— MISHINA
Content Management Director

I have not been able to go to any of my children’s
events due to work. We are here all day.”— NESTOR
Deputy Manager

There are times when you come home, and you’revery, very stressed. Very, very wound up, and I

think, just the longer you stay in it, the more used
to it you get.”— STEWART
Mortgage Advisor— EMILIA
Educator

U.K.

Germany“

concurring at the same time.”

Mexico— KOBA
Security Guard“

be separated, but I disagree. These are the same,Japan

Canada“

You may think work and life outside of work may“

When I finish my work quickly in the evening and
go to the gym to exercise, [my] mental stressalmost gets eliminated.”— NORUDEN
Regional Sales Manager

I don’t want to get up and do anything the nextday. I think about calling in sick, so I don’t have todeal with the fires.”— ANA
Nonprofit Director
U.S.

India

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

Employee Mental Health: A Global Snapshot

Twenty percent of the world’s employees
experience daily loneliness.

01

01

Daily Loneliness Among Employees

Did you experience the following feelings A LOT OF THE DAY yesterday?
How about loneliness?
% Yes

Globally, one in five employees report experiencing
loneliness a lot of the previous day. This percentage
is higher for employees under 35 and lower for
those over age 35. Fully remote employees reportsignificantly higher levels of loneliness (25%) thanthose who work fully on-site (16%).

Work itself decreases loneliness. In general, working
adults are less lonely (20%) than those who are
unemployed (32%), and this remains true across age
groups. Work interactions do not necessarily need to
be in person to provide a benefit. A Gallup study foundthat all forms of social time (phone, video, texting,etc.) are associated with a better mood.2 That said,
technological interactions such as messaging havethresholds — moods drop after moderate amounts.
This finding aligns with the findings of the State of the
Global Workplace that working on-site is associatedwith lower reported loneliness.

Social isolation and chronic loneliness havedevastating effects on physical and mental health.
Harvard Professor and Gallup Senior Scientist Lisa
Berkman and her colleagues studied the relationshipbetween social and community ties and mortality
rates over a nine-year span. The risk of mortality
among people who lacked community and social
ties was two times greater than that of people who
had many social contacts.1 These differences wereindependent of physical health, socioeconomic status
and health practices.
1
2

Berkman, L. F., & Syme, S. L. (1979). Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: A nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents.
American Journal of Epidemiology, 109(2), 186-204.
Clifton, J., & Harter, J. (2021). Wellbeing at work: How to build resilient and thriving teams. Gallup Press.

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

Employee Mental Health: A Global Snapshot

Wellbeing among younger
employees dropped in 2023.

02

02

Employee Wellbeing by Age (2009-2023)% Thriving

Age <35

Age 35+Globally, employee wellbeing declined in 2023
from 35% to 34%. Gallup’s wellbeing item measures
overall life evaluation, combining present and futureself-reflection. The decline in 2023 was felt by
younger workers under 35.

Although generational divides are often
exaggerated, this divergence should be onleaders’ radar. Given that many leaders are older,
they may not see the present and the future in thesame way as their youngest employees. A decadeago, younger workers had consistently higher
life evaluations than older workers; therefore, thedifference in perspective is unlikely to be a productonly of life stage.

The happiness gap between younger and older age
groups is generalized outside of work. This year’sWorld Happiness Report (which reports on the world’s
total population) found that people born before 1965
(baby boomers and their predecessors) have life
evaluations about one-quarter of a point higher thanthose born after 1980 (millennials and Gen Z).33

Explore more data on employee wellbeing.
View data

Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. D., De Neve, J.-E., Aknin, L. B., & Wang, S. (Eds.). (2024). World happiness report 2024. University of Oxford: Wellbeing
Research Centre. https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2024/WHR+24.pdf

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

Employee Mental Health: A Global Snapshot

03

Employee engagement is a significant
factor in overall life experiences.
03

Relationship Between Engagement and Overall Life Experiences
2023 Global Results

On many wellbeing items (stress, anger, worry,loneliness), being actively disengaged at work is
equivalent to or worse than being unemployed.
In contrast, when employees find their work and work
relationships meaningful, employment is associatedwith high levels of daily enjoyment and low levels of all
negative daily emotions. Notably, half of employees
who are engaged at work are thriving in life overall.
For employers, addressing mental health requires
support for thriving in life and engagement at work.
Employers should provide appropriate benefits andflexibility to support employee wellbeing without
neglecting their greatest lever on employee life
evaluation: building productive, high-performing teams.

Not all mental health issues are related to work,
but work is a factor in life evaluations and daily
emotions. Employees who dislike their jobs tend tohave high levels of daily stress and worry, as well as
elevated levels of all other negative emotions.

8

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Research Summary

PA R T I I

The Role of Economics
and Policy in the
Wellbeing of Workers
01
02
03
04

Countries where it is a good time to find a job have lower active disengagement.
Labor protections are associated with employees evaluating their present overall life better.
Independent of labor laws, employee engagement is associated with hope for the future.
Engaged employees in countries with substantial Labour Rights laws have the strongest emotional health.

9

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

Employees’ Perspectives on Disengagement““

You get up in the morning and you just think, ‘I

can’t go. I can’t face another day.’ And you just,you’ve just had too much of it all.”— CATHERINA
Speech Pathologist

Sometimes, if you’re getting yelled at all day long,“and you come home, you know, it’s a little bit

harder to deal with things that aren’t normally a big
deal at home.”

Canadawhat to do and lose motivation.”

Sometimes I don’t have the spare parts or thetools needed to do the work because I don’t havethe money, and the company doesn’t buy them.”— JONATHAN
Maintenance Manager
Mexico“In general, I lack accurate and complete

information, and it makes me uncomfortable

when I have to search for it, especially when I’m
unsure whom to ask.”— CICELY
Accountant Assistant

When I feel pressure at work, I have to push theengineers and pressure them. I hate doing thisto other people. But in our job, we have to do so.
Submission means submission.”— GHADEER
Industrial Engineer

Georgia“different things. I sometimes feel like I don’t knowJapan

— Z ACH
Parking Enforcement Officer“

person above me directing me and saying— NISHIK AWA
Accountant

Australia“

I get confused when there is more than one

UAE“

I always think, if I were at the office, at least I

wouldn’t have to face accusations of ‘time fraud’.”— DANIEL
System Programmer

Everyone’s very, very disposable, and there’s

very little loyalty from employers. They want you
to give your blood, your life to them, but it’s very
easy for them to lay you off [and] reconstructtheir companies.”

Germany— NICK
Real Estate Acquisition
U.S.

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Research Summary

The Role of Economics and Policy in the Wellbeing of Workers

01

Countries where people think it is a good time tofind a job have lower active disengagement.
01

Country-Level Relationship Between Quality of the Local Job Market and Disengagement

Thinking about the job situation in the city or area where you live today, would you say that it is now a good timeor a bad time to find a job?
r=0.55

Actively disengaged employees — i.e., workers who
actively oppose their employer’s goals — comprise
15% of the global workforce. Compared to theirpeers, they are more likely to be suffering in theiroverall wellbeing, less likely to feel respected and lesslikely to experience daily enjoyment. Fifty-four percent
of actively disengaged workers say they experienced
a lot of stress the previous day.

Actively disengaged workers may often be trappedin jobs they do not like for economic reasons.
Economic factors likely play a significant role in active
disengagement. We infer that job opportunities allow
bitter employees to leave bad situations and findbetter ones.
Notably, there is no significant correlation between
job market and engagement. In the aggregate, active
disengagement works differently than engagement:
Improving economic conditions likely shifts workers
from anger to indifference but not from indifference
to inspiration.

Poor job markets are highly correlated with active
disengagement. We asked respondents if theyfelt it was a good time to find a job in their local job
market. Their responses track consistently with
official unemployment statistics. Our analysis findsthat better job markets are associated with lower
active disengagement.

Learn more about our employee retention andattraction data.
View Gallup’s indicator data
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Research Summary

The Role of Economics and Policy in the Wellbeing of Workers

02

Labor protections are associated with employees
evaluating their present overall life better.
02

The Labour Rights Index identifies the presenceor absence of 46 labor-related statutes within
135 countries. These include laws related to
wages, discrimination, paid leave and safety,
among others. The index does not measure theenforcement of these laws, merely their presence.
However, it can provide a way to compare countries
with more or fewer legal protections for employees
and associations with employee wellbeing. (Itis important to note that labor protections tend
to be associated with economic development;
high-income countries generally have more labor
laws, but there is variance. We have controlled forsome of these variables in our study.)

The labor law sub-indexes with the highest
correlations with present life evaluations, after
controlling for income and other demographic
variables, are listed below.
Labour Rights Sub-Indexes Most Correlated
With Current Thriving in Life*

Across individuals within countries, labor laws
have a positive relationship with thriving in life.
This relationship is stronger for current life evaluation
than future life evaluation. In other words, labor laws
have a stronger relationship to current satisfaction
than optimism for the future.

1

Maternity at Work

2

Fair Wages

3

Social Security

4

Employment Security

5

Fair Treatment

6

Safety*Control variables: GDP per capita (country level), per capita income
percentile group (individual level), age group, gender, marital status,
Liberal Democracy Index (V-Dem)

A woman in Malaysia talks about her
views with a Gallup World Poll interviewer.
Labor protections related to maternity atwork are correlated with current thriving
in life for employees.

12

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Research Summary

The Role of Economics and Policy in the Wellbeing of Workers

03

Independent of labor laws, employee engagement
is associated with hope for the future.
03

Life Evaluations of Engaged Employees in Countries With High and Low Levels of Labour
Index-Related Statutes*Control variables: GDP per capita (country level), per capita income percentile group (individual level), age group, gender, marital status,
Liberal Democracy Index (V-Dem)

Employee engagement has a closer association to future life evaluation than the presence of labor laws.
When employees are engaged at work, they have significantly higher hope for their future lives overall. This
optimism exists in low Labour Rights countries and higher Labour Rights countries at similar levels. We canreasonably characterize the data this way: A great job is strongly associated with hope for the future.

13

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Research Summary

The Role of Economics and Policy in the Wellbeing of Workers

Engaged employees in countries with substantial
Labour Rights laws have the strongest emotional health.

0404

People often contrast Western Europe’s “work tolive” culture with the United States’ “live to work”
mindset. Western European countries have some ofthe strongest labor laws in the world and the lowest
employee engagement. The United States ranks lower
on labor protections but has much higher employee
engagement than Western Europe.

Labour Rights and engagement do not represent
an “either-or” relationship. Among countries
with similar levels of labor protections, theemployee work experience varies greatly. Norway,
Denmark and Sweden are in the top quartile ofcountries on the Labour Rights Index4 while also
having close-to-average employee engagement.
Conversely, Germany, France and the U.K. are also in
the top quartile for labor laws but have below-average
employee engagement.

It may appear that strong labor protections andemployee engagement are opposed to eachother, as if labor protections make employees
feel lost at work, and worker precarity makes
people find more meaning in their jobs. But thedata suggest otherwise.

Furthermore, individuals within a country havewidely different workplace experiences. Individuals
within countries with below-average engagement canstill be engaged, and when they are, they enjoy higher
life evaluations both today and in the future.

Employees’ Perspectives on Workload“

I get home and just want

to rest. Sometimes I don’t
feel like eating, so I eat

whatever I find and sleep a lot.
Sometimes I sleep 12 hours
and wake up tired.”4“

I feel that, due to shift work,
the leisure time I have, forexample, on weekends, isprimarily spent on recoveringso that I can go back to workon Monday morning.”— AMAIRANI
Cashier— BIRGIT
Physiotherapist

MexicoGermany

WageIndicator Foundation, & Centre for Labour Research. (2022). Labour Rights Index 2022.
https://labourrightsindex.org/lri-2022-documents/lri-2022-final-7-oct.pdf

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SOGW_ExecSummaryReport_2024“

You get at times — you are

tired, but you are already there

at work, you start working, andeventually your body adapts.”— PHANICE
Housekeeping
KenyaState of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

The Role of Economics and Policy in the Wellbeing of Workers

Combined labor protections and employee
engagement are associated with the lowest levelsof negative daily emotions. Labour Rights and highengagement are each individually associated withfewer negative daily emotion experiences among
employees. When combined, we find the lowest levelsof negative worker emotions.

Engaged employees in countries with these labor law
protections have much lower loneliness and stressthan less engaged employees within countries with ahigher abundance of labor laws.
Notably, experiencing a lot of daily enjoyment
is only associated with engagement. Along with
optimism, employee engagement has a positive
association with enjoyment. This finding suggeststhat a job — when it is good, meaningful andinteresting — adds something positive to life.

Not all labor laws are associated with emotions inthe same way. For example, labor laws aimed at fairwages, safe work, family responsibilities and maternity
are associated with reduced loneliness. Laws aimed
at safe work, family responsibilities and working hours
are associated with less stress.5

Daily Emotions of Engaged Employees in Countries With High and Low Levels of Labour
Index-Related Statutes
Lower Half Labour Rights Index

Daily Emotions

Upper Half Labour Rights Index

Actively
disengaged

Not engaged

EngagedActively
disengaged

Not engaged

EngagedStress

54

43

38

46

34

29

Sadness

34

25

22

26

16

15

Loneliness

27

22

20

21

14

12

Anger

29

22

19

26

16

13

Worry

53

42

34

43

34

30

Enjoyment

54

75

83

56

74

84

% Experienced Daily*Control variables: GDP per capita (country level), per capita income percentile group (individual level), age group, gender, marital status, Liberal Democracy
Index (V-Dem)

5

Within labor law sub-indexes, some specific laws are more highly correlated with worker wellbeing than others. For example, working hours laws restricting
hours to 56 hours per week and requiring at least three weeks of paid annual leave are related most highly to lower stress.

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Research Summary

PA R T I I I

The Role of the Manager
in Worker Wellbeing andOrganizational Performance
01
02
03

Managers have more negative experiences than non-managers.
When managers are engaged, employees are more likely to be engaged.
In best-practice organizations, three-fourths of managers are engaged,
along with seven in 10 non-managers.

16

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

Employees’ Perspectives on Managers““

A good job is a job where I have a manager who

knows me, sees and values what I do, and cares
about where I’m going in the future.”— OLIVA
Project Manager
Canada““We have several managers, and we have sucha good relationship with each of them thatsometimes we forget that they are somehow
above us.”

thus, I feel free.”— EUNICE
Hotel Cleaner

Our manager helps a lot and gives us positiveenergy every day. He teaches us how to do
things better.”— TAHNOON
Industrial Engineer
UAE

Georgia“

What I like the most is that while talking to
the manager, there is an atmosphere ofunderstanding. They always understand myproblems and guide me in the right direction.”

I enjoy seeing people grow in their roles. I

enjoy identifying where people have gifts

and then helping them to develop those anduse them.”— OLIVIA
Curate— VIK ASH
Trade Advisor

U.K.

India

“

is easy to work with. He doesn’t monitor me, andKenya— MIRIAM
Waitress“

What makes me love my job more is that my boss“

I always have a 30-minute 1-on-1 session with each
person every week, and I always communicate

closely with my subordinates, not only about work
but also about how they are feeling lately.”

I like the teamwork with my coworkers. We’re allvery focused on the mission, and it’s good to work
towards that common goal.”— ALEX
Project Manager
U.S.

— TAONO
Audit Manager
Japan

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

The Role of the Manager in Worker Wellbeing and Organizational Performance

01

Managers have more negative
experiences than non-managers.

01

Overall Life Experiences Among Managers vs. Non-Managers
2023 Global Results
Managers

Non-managers

The world’s managers are more likely thannon-managers to be engaged and thriving in life.
Managers are more likely to experience higher
pay and higher social status compared to their
non-manager peers. They are also more likely tofeel their opinions count, to feel connected totheir organization and to have manager peers they
can rely on for support. All these likely contributeto higher engagement and life evaluations
for managers.

Nevertheless, managers are more likely to be
stressed, angry, sad and lonely than non-managers.
Although being a manager has its perks, that does notmean it is easy. Managers experience higher levels ofnegative emotions than non-managers. They are also
more likely to be looking to leave their current job.
Because managers often provide emotional support
to employees and direct them to mental healthresources, any initiative to address employee mental
health and wellbeing should recognize that managers
are not immune from suffering — in fact, they may
need the most support in some cases.

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

The Role of the Manager in Worker Wellbeing and Organizational Performance

When managers are engaged, employees
are more likely to be engaged.

02

02

Country-Level Relationship Between Manager and Non-Manager Engagement
r=0.58When managers are engaged at work, non-managers
are also more likely to be engaged. Remarkably, thiscorrelation appears at the country level. Countries in
the upper half of manager engagement are two times
as likely to have engaged non-managers.

Managers drive engagement through goal setting,regular, meaningful feedback and accountability.
Gallup’s decades of research into effective managementfinds that a great manager builds an ongoing relationshipwith an employee grounded in respect, positivity andan understanding of the employee’s unique gifts. Great
managers help employees find meaning and reward intheir work. As a result, employees take an interest in what
they do, leading to higher productivity and enjoyment.

Gallup has found that 70% of the variancein team engagement can be attributed tothe manager.6

Discover more data as it relates to leadershipand management.

While economic prosperity and labor protections havea strong correlation to less misery at work, engagement
is more closely tied to interpersonal relationships with
one’s manager. An effective manager motivates teammembers, moving them from indifferent to inspired.

6

Explore data

Clifton, J., & Harter, J. (2019). It’s the manager: Moving from boss to coach. Gallup Press.

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

The Role of the Manager in Worker Wellbeing and Organizational Performance03

In best-practice organizations,
three-fourths of managers are engaged,
as well as seven in 10 non-managers.
03

Annual Employee Engagement in the World and Best-Practice Organizations% Engaged

Best-practice organizations

GlobalWhile only 30% of managers and 23% of
employees overall are engaged globally, someorganizations reach much higher levels of
employee engagement and wellbeing.

The global workplace has changed since 2020.
The rise in hybrid work for remote-capable employees
has made people management more complicated. Andeven those in on-site jobs are asking for more autonomy
in their work lives. As mentioned at the beginning of thisreport, the mental health of younger workers is a new andchallenging concern. These trends require new ways ofmanaging people.

Best-practice organizations across industries andgeographies have three-fourths of their managers
engaged and seven in 10 non-managers. This is theequivalent of 14 engaged employees for every one
actively disengaged employee, a ratio 11 times theglobal average.

Explore the ways to create more engaged employees.
Learn more

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

The Role of the Manager in Worker Wellbeing and Organizational Performance

Many of the organizations Gallup has studied did not start with high levels of engagement. Becoming a highly
engaged organization was an intentional effort of leadership over several years. Leaders who build strong andresilient cultures focus on a few things that set them apart from other organizations:

9 They put a high priority on manager hiring and

9 They emphasize wellbeing at work and in life.

9 They integrate engagement into every stage

When organizations do these things, they
simultaneously improve employees’ lives andorganizational performance.

development. As we’ve seen in this report, themanager-employee relationship is the locus of
employee engagement and a central factor in
thriving in life overall. The best organizations hire
managers with a talent for engaging their teams,
and they train their managers into effective coaches
who consistently deliver meaningful individual
feedback that inspires better future performance.

They make their support for employee wellbeing
visible and consistent. Many organizations employ
wellbeing teams with wellbeing counselors orcoaches. They also go beyond physical health toinclude financial literacy and planning support, as
well as events like webinars on mental health andencouraging community volunteerism.

of their employee and manager life cycle.
They make engagement a business strategy that
informs how they hire, onboard, coach and develop
talent. They also integrate it into performance
management, goal setting, team meetings andmanager-employee conversations. In other words,
they make it part of their culture. It’s simply the way
they do business.

 earn more about how Gallup partners
Lwith organizations at www.gallup.com

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State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report

Research Summary

Conclusion

When organizations increase the numberof engaged employees, they improve ahost of organizational outcomes.
Gallup finds strong evidence that decreasing the number of disengaged workers drives positive outcomes
within organizations. In a 2024 meta-analysis, the largest study of its kind that includes data from more than
183,000 business units across 53 industries and 90 countries, Gallup has found that high-engagement business
units are likely to see significantly higher employee wellbeing — as well as higher productivity, profitability and sales— than low-engagement teams.
Outcomes of Highly Engaged Business Units and Teamsin absenteeism

21%

in turnover for high-turnoverorganizations*51%

in turnover for low-turnoverorganizations*28%

in shrinkage (theft)63%

in safety incidents(accidents)

58%

in patient safety incidents(mortality and falls)

32%

in quality (defects)

10%

in customer loyalty/
engagement18%

in productivity (sales)

14%in productivity (production
records and evaluations)Greater Organizational Success

78%

More Positive Outcomes

Fewer Negative Outcomes

Difference between top- and bottom-quartile teams/business units within a typical organization23%

in profitability

70%

in wellbeing (thriving
employees)

22%in organizational
citizenship (participation)

Developing highly engaged teams results in fewer negative
outcomes, more positive outcomes and greater success foryour organization.

Note: Top-quartile teams on engagement achieved higher performance in positive outcomes andrealized fewer negative outcomes. Bottom-quartile teams realized more negative outcomes andachieved lower performance on positive outcomes. For more information, see Appendix 2: Methodology.
*High-turnover organizations are those with more than 40% annualized turnover. Low-turnoverorganizations are those with 40% or lower annualized turnover.

Learn more about the 2024 meta-analysis

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