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According to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report, global employee engagement declined to 21% in 2024, representing approximately $438 billion in lost revenue due to lost productivity. Additionally, employees have reported a decline in well-being since 2022. Of the twelve engagement elements Gallup tracks, three elements saw the most significant decline:
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Clarity of expectations. Just 46% of employees clearly know what is expected of them at work. This is down ten points from a high of 56% in March 2020.
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Feeling cared about at work. Thirty-nine percent of employees feel strongly that someone cares about them, an 8% drop from 47% in March 2020.
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Development encouraged. Only 30% strongly agree that someone at work encourages their development. This is a 6% drop from 36% from five years ago.
Additionally, there is a generational “X” factor in the equation. Workers younger than 35, particularly Gen Zers, were five points less engagement than the year prior, with notable declines on the most fundamental engagement elements: clarity of expectations, receiving recognition, being provided with materials and equipment to do their work well, having opportunities to do what they do best, feeling cared about, and having opportunities to develop.
Three Things to Activate Now to Combat Disengagement
First, invest in the human factor. I’ve been joking that we have lost the ability to “human” since COVID. Reach out to people on your team. Pick up the phone and get out of the inbox. Offer to see people in person. Visit a client’s office. Relationships and belonging are two values that rank high in contributing to an inclusive and engaged culture.
Second, provide as much clarity to your team as possible. Looking through a business development lens, this tends to be an area that is most opaque. For example, messages like “don’t worry about business development, but make sure you focus on relationship building with your law school classmates” to senior associates often produces confusion about what should they be doing for business development. Socializing or codifying specific examples of what is expected, coupled with support that teaches lawyers how to engage best in those situations increases clarity and builds confidence.
Third, ask people what they want. Research shows that when individuals are involved in the decision-making process, they are more interested and invested in the outcome. Since the dawn of law firms, the hierarchical structure has fueled top-down decision-making. Conducting consistent check-ins throughout the year with team members can be a great way to hold space to ask for interests and align opportunities to those interests.
The global workforce stands to gain $9.6 trillion in productivity if we are fully engaged. At a time when law firms are looking to technology and generative AI to impact productivity, there are critical elements, the people, who will inevitably require a human touch to drive engagement.
Authored by: Holly Barocio, Managing Director at GrowthPlay