07/05/2026
Businesses spend serious money trying to improve performance.
Training days. Conferences. Motivational speakers.
New systems. New softwares. New tools
..Some of it helps.
But Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report points to a much bigger issue.
Global manager engagement has dropped down to 22% since 2025 - that's a 5 point drop in 1 year!
This matters because managers account for around 70% of the variance in team engagement.
So if the manager layer is disengaged, under-equipped or unsupported, this is the hinge point where businesses need to invest.
A training day won't fix unclear priorities.
A conference won't make people more engaged.
The new system, software or tool won't drive profit.
A motivational speaker won't improve productivity or sales or reduce turnover.
Sure, they may drive small positive changes, but they won't compensate for a management layer that is unsupported, not set up for success and can't translate strategy into daily performance.
It’s like pouring more water into a bucket with a hole in it. You can keep adding more, but until you fix the leak, you’ll keep losing performance.
Before spending more money around the problem, CEOs need to look at the hinge point:
Are our managers equipped to lead the performance we keep asking from them?
