Employee Engagement and Wellbeing: Building a Thriving Workplace
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations are increasingly recognising that their most valuable asset isn't technology or capital—it is their people. The connection between employee engagement and wellbeing has emerged as a critical factor in organisational success, influencing everything from productivity and innovation to retention and customer satisfaction.
Understanding the Connection
Employee engagement and wellbeing are intrinsically linked, creating a reinforcing cycle that can either propel an organisation forward or hold it back. Engaged employees demonstrate higher levels of commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication to their work, while employees with strong wellbeing feel physically, emotionally, and mentally capable of performing at their best.
When employees are both engaged and thriving in their wellbeing, organisations see remarkable results. Gallup (2020) found that such organisations report 21% higher productivity, 23% greater profitability, and up to 59% lower turnover compared to those with disengaged, unhealthy workforces. They also experience 41% lower absenteeism and 70% fewer safety incidents, making the link between engagement and wellbeing a measurable business advantage.
The Current State of Employee Engagement
Despite widespread recognition of its importance, engagement remains a global challenge. Gallup reports that only 15–20% of employees worldwide are fully engaged, leaving the majority in a state of quiet quitting or active disengagement.
Leadership style plays a critical role in closing this gap. Research by Zenger & Folkman (2019) shows that leaders who score highly on engagement skills can double the percentage of engaged employees in their teams (from 20% to 60%). Similarly, McKinsey (2021) found that employees under inspiring leaders are 25% more engaged and 29% more likely to stay with their organisation.
Servant leadership, which prioritises employee growth, wellbeing, and empowerment, has been consistently linked to higher trust, engagement, and performance. Liden et al. (2014) found that servant leadership significantly reduced burnout while driving stronger loyalty and discretionary effort.
The Wellbeing Imperative
Employee wellbeing spans multiple dimensions: physical, mental, social, financial, and career-related. Supporting employees as whole human beings leads to sustainable performance. Harvard Business Review (2019) noted that organisations investing in wellbeing programmes reduce healthcare costs by 25–30% and improve resilience, while Deloitte (2020) found such companies see 60% lower workplace stress.
Extreme ownership—a leadership philosophy popularised by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin (2015)—aligns directly with wellbeing and engagement by creating accountability and clarity. Leaders who "own everything in their world" remove blame culture and foster psychological safety. This approach strengthens resilience, a vital factor given that the World Health Organization (2020) estimated burnout costs the global economy $322 billion annually in lost productivity.
A corporate example is T-Mobile's transformation under John Legere, who embodied servant leadership and extreme ownership. By owning organisational missteps and focusing relentlessly on employee and customer experience, he inspired higher engagement and creativity across the company, contributing to a fivefold increase in T-Mobile's share price between 2012 and 2019.
Strategies for Building Engagement and Wellbeing
Creating a thriving culture requires sustained leadership focus and integrated practices:
**Leadership and Management:** Servant leaders demonstrating care and extreme ownership create trust and accountability. Gallup (2015) found that managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement—making leadership the single biggest factor in outcomes.
**Purpose and Meaning:** Leaders connecting individual contributions to larger missions foster motivation and resilience, especially in times of uncertainty.
**Growth and Development:** Coaching and mentoring build skills and increase loyalty. LinkedIn (2021) found 94% of employees would stay longer if offered development opportunities.
**Recognition and Appreciation:** Recognition improves performance and wellbeing; SHRM (2019) found employees who feel valued are 60% more engaged.
**Work-Life Integration:** Flexible arrangements and respect for personal time improve work/life balance, lowering burnout and turnover. CIPD (2020) found flexible working reduced absenteeism by up to 30%.
**Resilience and Burnout Prevention:** Coaching interventions boost resilience; Aon (2021) reported that resilient employees are 43% more engaged and deliver 17% higher performance.
Measuring Success and Continuous Improvement
To build a culture of engagement and wellbeing, organisations must measure progress and adapt continuously. Key metrics include:
Organisations must hold themselves accountable for engagement and wellbeing outcomes. Alongside engagement surveys, leading companies measure impacts such as innovation and retention. Boston Consulting Group (2018) showed that companies with inclusive, supportive cultures earned 19% higher innovation revenue.
Continuous improvement is key. Organisations that regularly adapt their wellbeing and engagement initiatives to feedback see compounding benefits over time. This reflects both servant leadership's ethos of growth and extreme ownership's principle of accountability.
Organisations that track these metrics and act on insights create virtuous cycles of improvement. Microsoft’s annual employee survey, for example, has been instrumental in identifying areas for cultural transformation, leading to significant improvements in engagement scores under Satya Nadella’s leadership.
The Business Case
The evidence is clear: organisations with engaged and healthy workforces achieve superior outcomes. Gallup confirms that such companies enjoy 23% higher profitability, 41% lower absenteeism, and 59% lower turnover.
Strong leadership is the multiplier. Servant leadership builds trust, inclusion, and loyalty, while extreme ownership reinforces accountability and resilience. Together, they reduce burnout, strengthen wellbeing, and enable sustainable growth.
Conclusion
Employee engagement and wellbeing are not optional—they are strategic imperatives. Servant leadership and extreme ownership demonstrate how leadership philosophies directly shape organisational outcomes, driving resilience, trust, and commitment. Organisations investing in these approaches see measurable gains: higher productivity, innovation, and financial performance, alongside improved work/life balance and healthier employees.
The future belongs to organisations that commit to cultures of engagement, resilience, and wellbeing—and continuously improve them. By viewing employees as whole human beings while holding leaders accountable for vision and outcomes, businesses can build thriving workplaces where both people and performance flourish.