State of Employee Engagement

For the past decade, WeSpire has been working to understand what employees perceive about their company. The data in our 2021 State of Employee Engagement pays particular attention to the impact that purpose-based programs—like sustainability, social impact, wellbeing, and inclusive culture—have on the employee experience.

In our 10th State of Employee Engagement report, we asked our survey population: how does their organization engage them at work? What are their opinions about the effectiveness of these engagement efforts? How do they shape their sense of purpose and belonging at work?

Our findings include:

• Purpose and positive impact matter—big time.
• Staying connected is paramount to thriving workforce communities. Employees will recommend their employer based on this alone.
• Since the start of COVID, employees report their motivation to participate in employee engagement programs has increased.
• There are multiple gaps in understanding who shapes these opportunities.

If your company wants to get serious about infusing purpose-driven initiatives into your workplace, it is time to put the right people and a clear strategy in place. We hope this State of Employee Engagement research (and our webinar recording below!) helps you make the case for the importance of engaging employees in purpose and impact.

Our research references the following studies and datasets:

• Monthly Labor Review, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. December 2020.
• McKinsey & Co. June 2020.
• Deloitte Insights. 2020.
• Pew Research Center. January 2021.
• Gallup. May 2020.
• Red Thread Research. January 2021.
• Gartner. October 2020.