The Disengagement Problem You Can’t Ignore in 2026

by Marc Koehlerin Elite Leadership, Engagementon Posted on

Disengagement is not a mood issue. It is an operating issue.

In fast, high-stakes environments, I look for the hidden friction that slows teams down. Lately, that friction is everywhere. People are showing up, but not switching on. Meetings feel heavier. Decisions drag. Energy fades by Wednesday.

This is not just a feeling inside your company. It is a global pattern.

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 shows that only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. That is nearly four out of five people who are not fully in the fight with you. (Gallup.com)

If you lead a team, this is your problem to solve.

What today’s disengagement really looks like

I have led crews in places where clarity and commitment were the difference between success and catastrophe. The signals I am seeing now are familiar.

  • Engagement is slipping, and managers are feeling it most. Gallup reports that global engagement fell from 23% to 21% from 2023 to 2024. Manager engagement dropped from 30% to 27%. Younger managers and female managers saw the sharpest declines. (Gallup.com)
  • The headline is simple. A small minority are engaged. The majority are present but disconnected and actively working against your momentum. Gallup’s global summary quantifies that distribution very clearly. (Gallup.com)

If you run an organization that depends on speed, judgment, or safety, those percentages are not abstract. They are an operational risk.

What disengagement costs you in the real world

Disengagement does three things you cannot afford.

  1. It slows decisions. You get more deference and less initiative. You spend time pulling answers from people instead of getting solutions from them.
  2. It erodes readiness. When people are unclear on the mission or their role, they hesitate. In fast environments, hesitation compounds.
  3. It drains managers. When manager engagement drops, the entire system feels it. Managers are the primary conduit for clarity and recognition. If they run low, teams run low with them.

Why this is happening

From what I am seeing with executive teams across industries, three root causes come up again and again.

1) Fuzzy missions. People do not know where the organization is going or how their work matters. When the mission is foggy, effort becomes transactional.

2) Decision bottlenecks. Choices get pushed up the org chart. Frontline leaders feel disempowered. The people closest to the problem are not trusted to act.

3) Thin leadership habits. Communication rhythms are inconsistent. Recognition is sporadic. Reflection is ad hoc. Without daily discipline, culture drifts.

The Gallup numbers tell you the what. These patterns explain the why and they give us a path to fix it.

What I do to turn disengagement into momentum

The solution is not a lunchtime pizza party or slapping a poster on the breakroom wall. It is a system of leadership behaviors that you install and repeat until they become muscle memory.

1) Make the mission unmissable.
 Every person should be able to say, in plain language, where we are going, why it matters, and what they own this week that moves us closer. If not even ten percent of your team cannot do this on the spot, start here.

2) Push decisions to the edge.
 Decisions should live as close to the work as possible. That requires clear decision rights, short feedback loops, and leaders who coach judgment instead of hoarding authority. When people can act without waiting, engagement rises.

3) Coach managers like your results depend on them.
 Because they do. Managers set the tone for clarity, recognition, and growth. Invest in their capacity and their habits. The 2025 Gallup data shows managers are the group slipping the most. They need support, structure, and simple tools that help them lead, not just report. 

4) Reinforce with daily discipline.
 Briefs, huddles, one-on-ones, and debriefs are not ceremony. They are the scaffolding that keeps teams aligned in turbulence. When those rhythms are tight, disengagement has fewer places to hide.

5) Recognize what you want repeated.
 Catch people doing the right things and name it quickly. Momentum follows attention. When managers are stretched, this is the habit that slips first, which is one reason engagement follows them down. 

What the Gallup numbers mean for you right now

I take two clear leadership cues from the 2025 findings.

First, treat engagement like an operational metric, not an HR score. If only one in five are fully engaged, you have a speed and quality problem. Start measuring engagement by team and connect it to execution outcomes. Use the data to target coaching, clarify decision rights, and tighten communication rhythms. Gallup’s global summary gives you the baseline. Your job is to build the local picture and move it. 

Second, stabilize your managers. They are the pressure point. Build their capacity with simple, repeatable practices that create clarity and recognition. The manager drop Gallup reports is both a warning and an opportunity. Close that gap and you lift entire sections of the organization with it.

How Fast Attack Leadership™ helps

Fast Attack Leadership™ is the system I use to install these habits quickly.

It helps leadership teams turn purpose into plain language, push decisions to the edge without losing alignment, and run the daily rhythms that keep people connected. It is built for high-velocity environments where disengagement shows up first and costs the most.

When you give people clarity and ownership, they engage. When managers have a simple framework, they lead with more energy. When decisions move closer to the work, execution speeds up. The Gallup data explains the problem. A disciplined operating system solves it. 

Book Marc Koehler for your 2026 leadership event

If your team is showing signs of disengagement, I can help you install a leadership system that restores clarity, ownership, and speed. In my keynote, I translate elite leadership from the control room to the boardroom so your managers and teams can use it the same day.

Learn more or book me at marckoehlerspeaks.com/contact.

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