10/20/2025
Engagement is falling, and women leaders are feeling it most.
I just read Culture Amp's Mid-Year 2025 Benchmark Report, and honestly? The trends aren't surprising, but they're still concerning.
Employee engagement has dropped again.
Pride in work is down four points since 2022. Only 55% of employees say they rarely think about leaving.
And here's the kicker: while companies are getting better at the mechanics of work (goal-setting, ex*****on, follow-through), motivation and energy are still sliding.
Translation? The work is getting done, but the people doing it are checking out.
Here's where it gets personal for women leaders.
The engagement drivers that are declining (trust in leadership, clarity of purpose, development opportunities, feeling valued) are often the exact areas where women leaders shine. We lead with empathy. We create inclusion. We focus on meaning, not just metrics.
But when engagement drops across the board, guess who absorbs the impact?
We do.
We become the shock absorbers for exhausted teams and systems that aren't working. And that emotional labour? It compounds. Even high performers can hit a wall.
So, what's the path forward?
In my work with women leaders, I've seen three things make a real difference:
- Building systems that sustain engagement, not just quick fixes that burn you out
- Creating psychological safety so your team can be honest about what's really happening
- Shifting from firefighting mode to strategic leadership that actually moves the needle
Declining engagement isn't a "people problem," it's a leadership opportunity, and you're uniquely positioned to lead through it.
I'm curious:
How is engagement showing up in your organization right now? Are you seeing this same gap between productivity and energy?
I'd love to hear from fellow women leaders navigating this reality.
What is the state of employee engagement as of mid-year 2025? Here's what our people scientists learned after diving into the data.
