Re-igniting employee engagement

The Challenge We’re All Facing

Sound familiar? Your team has great benefits, flexible work options, and competitive pay – yet engagement scores are still flat. Here’s why: what used to motivate employees has become the baseline expectation.

The game has changed. It’s time to dig deeper.

The Real Driver: Internal Motivation
The secret isn’t adding more perks – it’s tapping into what genuinely drives people from within. Think purpose over paychecks, growth over gym memberships.

Through our work with clients, we’ve found that internal motivation kicks in when people:

• have autonomy over their work
• can make a positive impact
• have close alignment between work and personal values or purpose
• can master new skills
• contribute to great teams
• have the opportunity to solve problems, and achieve meaningful results.

Here as some ways to do this.

Practical Actions You Can Start This Week

Connect Work to Impact

• Share one customer success story at your next team meeting
• Create a “customer voice” board where team members can see real feedback
• Arrange brief calls between your team and happy customers

Turn Problems into Opportunities

• Start monthly “solve-it sessions” where anyone can pitch solutions
• Create cross-team problem-solving groups for bigger challenges
• Celebrate the attempt, not just the outcome

Make Everyone a Teacher

• Ask experienced team members to mentor newcomers
• Create “lunch and learn” sessions where staff share their expertise
• Encourage knowledge sharing in team meetings

Focus Forward, Not Backward

• Replace “Here’s what you did wrong” with “Here’s what success looks like next time”
• Ask “What support do you need to excel?” instead of just reviewing performance
• Set learning goals alongside (or instead of!) performance goals

Create Safe Experiment Zones

• Define specific areas where trying new approaches is encouraged
• Establish “failure parties” to celebrate lessons learned
• Share stories of successful experiments that started as failures

The Bonus Insight: Recognition That Reinforces Growth

Here’s something we’ve discovered works incredibly well: recognize the intrinsic motivators in action. Instead of just praising outcomes, acknowledge when people demonstrate autonomy, help others grow, or tackle challenges creatively. Try “I love how you took ownership of that solution” or “You really helped Sarah develop her skills in that project.” This type of recognition reinforces the behaviours that drive genuine engagement.

Your Next Step
Pick just one action from the list above and try it this week. Small changes often create the biggest shifts in engagement. What resonates most with your team’s current situation? We’d love to hear how you go.