It’s easy to get wrapped up in your own role at work. Deadlines, projects, and the never-ending to-do list can keep your head down and your focus narrow. But one of the most overlooked drivers of employee engagement is understanding not only your own role - but how the roles around you fit into the bigger picture.
Gallup’s Q1: Clarity Starts with Expectations
Gallup’s research on employee engagement shows that the very first question on the Q12 survey - “I know what is expected of me at work” - is foundational. Without clarity, engagement suffers. Employees who strongly agree with Q1 are far more productive, more committed, and less likely to leave.
But here’s the thing: clarity isn’t just about knowing what’s on your plate. True clarity comes from seeing how your responsibilities connect with others’. When you understand what your colleagues do, you can better align your efforts, anticipate needs, and avoid duplication or confusion. It’s not only “I know what is expected of me” but also “I understand how what I do fits with what others do.”
Engagement and Organizational Outcomes
Gallup’s research shows that highly engaged teams achieve:
- 23% higher profitability
- 18% higher productivity
- 43% lower turnover in high-turnover organizations
Those outcomes don’t just happen because people work hard in isolation. They happen because people understand how their roles interact - how marketing supports sales, how operations supports customer service, how educators support students, how administrators support educators.
When employees see the full picture, they not only perform their own jobs more effectively but also work together toward shared outcomes.
Leadership Isn’t Just for Leaders
Gallup identifies three essential roles of leadership:
- Leading Self
- Leading the Business
- Leading the Organization
Most of us think of “Leading the Organization” as something reserved for CEOs or superintendents. But every role has an organizational impact. Even as an individual contributor, your work touches the mission, culture, and long-term goals of the organization.
By knowing what others do - and how your work influences theirs - you’re leading the organization in your own way. You’re making choices that support alignment, communication, and results.
Sharing Success Across the Organization
Sometimes, you’ll see one team in an organization absolutely thriving - high engagement, strong results, great collaboration. But no one else really gets the chance to find out how or why. Maybe it’s because that leader keeps their playbook close, or the team isn’t encouraged to share their practices.
The problem? That kind of “siloed success” isn’t sustainable. It may help in the short run, but in the long run it limits growth. Engagement is contagious when people can see and learn from what’s working - not when it’s hidden.
When leaders and teams are transparent about what’s fueling their success, they multiply impact across the organization. Sharing best practices, highlighting cross-team wins, and inviting others into the process not only builds alignment but strengthens the overall culture.
The Power of Perspective
When you zoom out from your own tasks and understand the big picture, a few things happen:
- You gain clarity in your own role.
- You build empathy and respect for colleagues.
- You spot opportunities to collaborate, streamline, and innovate.
- You align more deeply with the organization’s mission.
In other words, you stop working in a silo and start contributing to something greater than yourself.
The Bottom Line
Knowing what others in your organization do isn’t just “nice to know.” It’s a critical factor in engagement, collaboration, and performance. When individuals connect their daily tasks to the broader mission - and understand the roles around them - teams thrive, and organizations achieve more together.
