What if your job could energize you instead of deplete you? What if work felt like something you get to do instead of something you have to survive?
For most people, the difference comes down to one relationship: their manager.
According to Gallup, managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement. Seventy percent. That means your manager has more influence on your work life than any other single factor including company perks, job title, or even compensation.
But here’s what we don’t talk about enough: while the manager sets the tone for engagement, employees have a role to play too.
If you're an employee, you must know what you need to do your best work. Do you need more feedback? Greater clarity? Recognition? Autonomy? Chances are, your manager isn’t a mind-reader.
Using an employee engagement framework, such as Gallup's Q12, can help. Gallup has determined 12 core questions that identify what people need to be engaged at work like:
If you’re consistently answering “no” to these questions, it’s time to get curious, not just frustrated. Ask yourself: What do I need that I’m not getting? And then: Have I clearly communicated that to my manager?
If not, start there. Engagement isn't something a manager does to you. It's something you co-create.
While employees are responsible for speaking up about their needs, managers are responsible for creating the conditions where those needs can be heard, understood, and met.
That starts with education - knowing what research says actually drives engagement - and continues with intentionality: asking the right questions, making space for honest feedback, and responding with meaningful action whenever possible.
Great managers don’t just lead tasks, they lead people. And they know how much engagement matters to both performance and wellbeing.
If you're a manager, your role is to make it safe for employees to say what they need and then do everything in your power to meet those needs. You’re not expected to fix everything. But you are expected to care, to ask, to advocate, and to explain when things can’t change.
If you're an employee who’s feeling disengaged, reflect on which of your needs isn’t being met. Identify it. Communicate it. Whether or not your manager responds the way you hope, you’ve taken control of your own engagement in the most powerful way you can.
Because engagement isn’t magic. It’s knowing the needs of employees + mutual responsibility + honest conversations.
Let’s start having more of them.