Workers tie engagement to change management and senior leaders, not perks or feeling valued
Belonging and feeling valued, long treated as the gold standard for keeping employees engaged, have slipped to the bottom of the list in 2025, according to new research from Perceptyx based on more than 20 million global employee survey responses over 10 years.
Perceptyx’s longitudinal analysis shows a sharp pivot in what drives engagement.
From 2016 to 2024, feelings of belonging and feeling valued consistently ranked as the #1 and #2 engagement drivers.
In 2025, they drop to #4 and #5, marking the most dramatic reshuffle of top drivers since the company began its benchmark database 20 years ago.
In their place, employees now prioritise “change is handled effectively in my company” and confidence in senior leadership.
The statement “change is handled effectively in my company” now sits as the top driver of employee engagement in 2025, its highest position on record.
Employees who believe their organisations manage change effectively report much higher levels of commitment, pride, motivation, and willingness to recommend their employer as a great place to work.
Confidence in senior leadership has become the #2 predictor of engagement this year, after not appearing in the top five at all from 2016 through 2020, then moving into #4 from 2021 to 2023 and #3 in 2024.
Brad Wilson, global head of Workforce Insights and Innovation at Perceptyx, said the trend reflects a fundamental shift in employee priorities. “For nearly a decade, the strongest drivers of engagement were emotional and culture-based,” he said.
“In 2025, that has now flipped into the biggest shift we’ve ever recorded,” he added, noting that employees are no longer focused on whether they feel valued on a given day, but on whether they believe their company will succeed – and whether they can succeed with it.
He said that amid economic uncertainty, reorganizations and volatile talent markets, workers increasingly judge employers on organisational stability and leadership effectiveness, rather than perks, morale programs or basic managerial support.
The research also flags how fragile engagement becomes during disruption.
After major events such as layoffs, reorganizations, or post-merger integrations, employees report that advocacy and intent to stay are the first measures to fall, underlining the heightened importance of how organisations handle change in the current economic environment.
Personal growth and voice in decision-making remain critical levers.
Employees who feel a strong sense of personal accomplishment and growth report significantly higher engagement, and those who strongly agree that their work contributes to organisational progress score more than 40 points higher in both trust and engagement.
The data further shows that employees are 3.5 times more likely to stay when they feel they have meaningful input into workplace decisions, signalling that effective leadership through change depends on fostering real dialogue rather than relying solely on top-down direction.
