Jennifer E. Walls

Understanding what drives employee engagement, or what hinders it, is a critical skill for any organizational leader. During a change management course in my graduate studies at Johns Hopkins, I was asked to identify three reasons why employees feel engaged at work, and three reasons why they don’t. While the question was simple, the answers revealed just how personal and contextual workplace engagement really is. Myself and each of my classmates answers all slightly differed based on our own experiences, having been shaped by the environments we’d worked in and the leaders we’d learned from. That nuance is important, because engagement doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it’s deeply tied to the dynamics of leadership, organizational culture, and individual motivation.

In the post below, I’ve outlined my own perspective, inspired by this classroom discussion, and informed by my own continued experience working with teams and leaders in a range of settings.

Why Do Employees Feel Engaged?

They are adequately challenged in their role

When employees, or other organizational participants, feel as if their skills and abilities are being utilized, are given meaningful, and realistically achievable, challenges, it can foster a sense of accomplishment that helps foster growth and further motivation to engage with their work.

They have autonomy in their position

When individuals are given appropriate control on how they do their work, manage their project, apply their knowledge to their work it communicates a sense of trust in their competencies and judgement. This then allows said individual to feel trusted, and thus empowered to perform at the highest level their skills will allow-as they’re not fearful of their ideas and contributions being dismissed, diminished, or changed in a way that alters the overall scope of their contribution.

There is a balance between motivation and rewards

Engagement thrives when employees have a balanced mix of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. We will go over how to balance these motivational forces in a later blog post, but internal satisfaction for their work, combined with a feeling of recognition and reward externally is the ideal balance that creates the thriving environment

Why Do Employees Feel Disengaged?

Over-reliance on either intrinsic or extrinsic motivators

There is too much of a focus on internal satisfaction, usually indicated by a lack of external rewards, or too much focus on external reward systems, usually indicated by a lack of focus on employee satisfaction and input for project; there’s a risk of employees feeling unfilled or pressured.

Lack of growth opportunities

Without changes for professional development, continued learning, or overall career advancement, employees can feel stuck, undervalued, or the inevitable day when the employee’s skillset outgrows the scope of their position will come meaning it’s highly likely that engagement will drop drastically due to feeling underchallenged, they will leave their position to pursue a more fitting role, or any variation of these two events will occur shortly thereafter.

Feelings of insecurity

Though not always the fault of the organization, insecurity of any kind undermines employee engagement. Factors of insecurity that can be controlled by the organization and/or it’s leaders should be considered to avoid disengagement. These factors include but are not limited to; job instability, unclear expectations, lack of communication pathways, informal organizational structures, extended periods of change and transition with no communicated goal or endvision and etc.

So… What Now?

Understanding what drives engagement and disengagement is only the beginning. The real impact comes from being intentional with this knowledge, both as a leader and as a team member. Every organization will have different nuances, just as each individual will respond differently to motivators. But if leaders can consistently return to the fundamentals—challenge, autonomy, and balanced motivation, they’ll be more equipped to foster environments where people genuinely want to contribute.

Likewise, being mindful of the factors that chip away at engagement—over-reliance on any one type of reward, lack of growth, or feelings of instability, allows leaders to intervene before disengagement takes root.

Ultimately, building a culture of engagement isn’t about perfecting every system; it’s about paying attention. It’s about being willing to ask: “Are we supporting growth here?” “Do our people feel empowered?” and “Where might disengagement be creeping in?” When those questions become part of the leadership rhythm, engagement stops being a guessing game and starts becoming a shared outcome.

Resources Referenced:

Holly H. Chiu (2018) Employees’ Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations in Innovation Implementation: The Moderation Role of Managers’ Persuasive and Assertive Strategies, Journal of Change Management, 18:3, 218-239, DOI: 10.1080/14697017.2017.1407353 https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2017.1407353

Pink, D. (2009). Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation. https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_the_puzzle_of_motivation?language=en