HR managers are facing a pivotal moment right now when it comes to engagement in the workplace. According to Gallup, employee engagement has sunk to a 10-year low, with just 31% of employees saying they’re actively engaged at work.
However, there’s more than one reason for HR leaders to remain optimistic about the future of workplace engagement. HR teams are leveraging data to create custom-tailored engagement strategies; they’re connecting engagement to their business KPIs to drive performance; and they’re adapting engagement strategies for remote and hybrid work.
Read about the transformation in the integration and utilization of HR data in our article “Employee Data Meets Business Strategy: Josh Bersin and atwork on the Future of People Analytics.”
Here’s a look at the emerging trends shaping the future of employee engagement, along with some useful tips to help HR leaders maximize this crucial HR metric as we move further into 2025.
Trend 1: Harnessing the Power of Data-Driven Engagement
The first trend on our list is a growing focus among HR leaders on data-driven engagement. And more than ever, they’re turning to software to obtain the engagement data they need.
Globally, the total value of the employee engagement software market was an estimated $928.3M as of 2023, and it’s poised to grow by 16.4% each year until 2030.
HR leaders are realizing that the use of data in employee engagement has shifted from a nice-to-have to an absolute necessity. That’s why companies are increasingly turning to a range of tools to gather crucial employee data, such as:
- Employee surveys
- Sentiment analysis
- AI-based predictive analytics
atwork leverages all of these to give HR executives real-time insights into their employees’ level of engagement. And atwork’s innovative AI-driven health check enables teams to assess how their engagement levels are impacting their organization’s overall health.
Practical tip: Don’t forget to conduct thorough exit interviews when employees leave your company. Doing so can give you additional data to help you boost engagement.
Trend 2: Personalization as the Key to Employee Loyalty
Today, employees want something more out of their job than just clocking in, going through the same daily routine, and collecting a paycheck. Personalization is now the key to building deep, lasting employee loyalty, which is a crucial ingredient in engagement.
Luckily, HR leaders have a broad range of potential areas to personalize:
- Onboarding: A personalized onboarding process makes a great first impression on employees, and shows that you’re invested in their success.
- Scheduling flexibility: 79% of employees want to work for an organization that allows flexibility in their schedule.
- Engagement programs: Personalizing your engagement programs ensures that you’re properly motivating all the different subsets of your workforce.
It’s important for HR teams to recognize that different segments of employees have different goals and priorities. The workplace is not “one size fits all.” Age, roles, career stage, and other individual factors should be taken into account when personalizing engagement programs and initiatives.
Useful example: A younger employee might feel more engaged from regular skill-building workshops to enhance their professional trajectory. However, a more senior employee might appreciate greater workplace autonomy.
Trend 3: Adapting Engagement Strategies for Remote and Hybrid Work
Rates of remote and hybrid work are continuing to rise, making it imperative for HR leaders to tailor their engagement strategies to this new reality. Among EU employees between the ages of 15 and 64, 22% worked from home. This represents an 8% increase since 2019.
Without the traditional office environment to foster spontaneous interactions and team bonding, HR executives need to be more intentional in laying the groundwork for engagement. In fact, Gallup found that fully remote employees have experienced a more pronounced drop in engagement compared to those working in offices.
In light of these two trends — remote and hybrid work are steadily rising, but can also harm engagement — HR managers are taking a more specialized approach to engagement for their remote employees.
This can be achieved through:
- Buddy systems that pair new hires with more experienced employees who meet with them regularly to help them acclimate and thrive.
- Virtual social events, like happy hours, game nights, or coffee breaks, to help build camaraderie.
- Ensuring that offsite employees are appropriately recognized in virtual meetings, digital newsletters, or internal communications.
Distributing regular “pulse” surveys that help you monitor engagement among your offsite team members can also be extremely useful. atwork helps HR teams monitor engagement among remote and hybrid employees with both traditional and automated surveys. However, it’s also important for HR leaders to understand that managing engagement isn’t “one size fits all.”
Despite HR’s strategic importance being increasingly recognized, HR leaders doubt their ability to influence other stakeholders. Additionally, 45% of HR leaders say they feel pressure to justify the cost of their programs and initiatives.
This has led HR executives to focus on tying HR metrics like employee engagement to business KPIs like revenue, productivity, and gross margin. And yes, there is a direct relationship between HR data and business outcomes.
Companies that have high engagement levels often see lower turnover rates, higher levels of customer satisfaction, and improved financial performance. For instance, organizations with highly engaged workers are 21% more profitable than companies struggling to keep employees engaged. They also report 59% less turnover.
By linking engagement to business KPIs, HR teams can demonstrate a clear return on investment (ROI) for their engagement efforts, making it easier to secure buy-in from leadership. atwork gives HR executives granular data to show stakeholders exactly how your HR metrics are impacting business performance.
Practical Steps to Prepare for the Future of Engagement
Fostering lasting engagement has become more than a top priority for today’s HR leaders. It’s a crucial aspect of overall business success and profitability.
Below are some ways HR executives can prepare for the future we already see unfolding — one in which engagement is more vital than ever.
Opportunities for Growth and Development
Provide your employees with clear prospects for their professional development. This includes training programs, mentoring, and opportunities for career advancement within the company.
A workplace that invests in the long-term growth of its employees not only enhances motivation but also strengthens their commitment to the organization.
Regularly review and adjust your engagement strategies.
Employees’ expectations and the broader workplace environment are continuously changing over time. The engagement strategies you implemented 2 years ago, for example, may not be performing as well today as they once were.
By continuously revisiting and revising your strategies, you can make sure you’re maximizing the ROI of your engagement programs and initiatives.
Use technology and automation to spot engagement problems early and get real-time data.

Tools like atwork enable HR leaders to track employee engagement in real time using streamlined dashboards. HR teams can monitor engagement scores, survey responses, eNPS, and other indicators that show the current state of employee engagement at your company.
By leveraging atwork in your department, you can immediately respond to small slips in engagement before they have the opportunity to harm productivity.
Engagement is shaping up to be more important than ever in 2025. To learn more about how atwork can help you optimize employee engagement at your company, contact our team today.