The disengagement at work epidemic, and what to do about it.

Sep 22

3 min read

This post is bound to resonate with a lot of you. Whether you're navigating your own career or leading a team, understanding disengagement matters more than ever right now. Listen to a podcast episode about this topic:

The Reality of the Numbers

Disengagement isn't a buzzword. It's a stark, measurable reality for a huge share of the global workforce. I hadn't truly grasped its impact until I lived it myself, during two rounds of major restructuring in my last corporate role. I didn't lose my job — but the changes going on around me altered it enough that I found myself sliding into disengagement without even realising it was happening.

According to Gallup's most recent State of the Global Workplace Report, 79% of workers globally are disengaged, with only 21% reporting genuine engagement — being psychologically present, understanding their work, and knowing why it matters. Manager engagement has fallen too, from 30% down to 27%, with younger and female managers hit hardest. Individual contributor engagement is sitting flat at just 18%.

That's not a niche problem. That's most people, most of the time.

What Engagement at Work Actually Means

Gallup defines engaged employees as those genuinely involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. Disengaged employees, by contrast, have most of their core workplace needs unmet — and that shows up as checking out mentally, even while staying physically present.

The elements of engagement that have declined the most are consistent, and worth sitting with:

Clarity of expectations
Connection to the company's mission or purpose
Opportunities to learn and grow
Opportunities to do what you naturally do best
Feeling genuinely cared about at work

Notice that "doing what you naturally do best" sits right in that list. It's not a footnote — it's one of the biggest levers there is.

My Own Work Disengagement

I now recognise what I went through as a workquake — that seismic, disorienting shift when the ground beneath your career starts moving, whether or not you asked for it to.

Being one of the disengaged majority was a jarring experience. It led to feelings of powerlessness, and it fed into real anxiety. My entire career, I'd been a committed over-achiever in every role I held — feeling this disconnected was completely foreign to me, and deeply unsettling. It was like the feeling had power over me, rather than the other way around.

Looking back, part of what kept me stuck longer than it needed to was what I now call Default Mode — the pull to keep doing what's familiar, simply because it's familiar, even once it's clearly stopped working for you. Change felt riskier than staying, even as staying was quietly costing me more.

The Role of Strengths in Engagement at work

When I finally cross-checked my strengths against what the restructured role actually required of me day to day, the core issue became obvious: I wasn't being given the opportunity to use what I do best, daily. My job title hadn't officially changed — but the substance of the role had shifted enough that the fit was gone.

Gallup's research backs this up directly: people who use their strengths regularly report higher engagement, higher productivity, better wellbeing, and are significantly less likely to leave. This is exactly why strengths sit at the centre of my coaching work now — not as a nice add-on, but as the actual map back to engagement.

Finding Your Way Out

If you recognise yourself in any of this, there's a way through. Understanding your strengths and realigning your work around them — even incrementally — can meaningfully reduce the disengagement you're feeling. It's a simple shift in principle, and a genuinely profound one in practice.

My own move from disengagement to real alignment is the reason I do this work now. If you're in that quietly checked-out place, or somewhere louder and more frustrated than that, you have more agency in this than it probably feels like right now.

Where to Start

If this resonates, a few ways to take the next step:

Book a free Career Strategy Chat to talk through what's driving your disengagement and what realignment could look like for you.
Come along to my Career Crossroads workshop (or watch the recording now) if you want structured space to work through it — check the website for the next date.

Let's turn your engagement story around, one honest conversation at a time.

Binny

PS. If you're ready to dive deeper into your strengths and find career alignment, let's catch up for a FREE Career Strategy Chat. Your journey towards greater engagement could start now. Listen to a podcast episode about this topic: