The data that got my attention
Global employee engagement has fallen to 20% in 2025, the lowest level since Gallup began tracking the current series, and the drop is being driven by managers. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2026 report, manager engagement collapsed from 31% in 2022 to 22% in 2025, a nine-point decline that wipes out the traditional “manager premium.” Low engagement now costs the world economy an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity, or about 9% of global GDP.
The same research reveals a mismatch between what followers need and what organizations are delivering. Gallup’s Global Leadership Report, based on surveys across 52 countries covering 76% of the world’s adult population, finds that followers most want hope (56%), trust (33%), compassion (7%), and stability (4%) from their leaders. Yet only 20% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they trust their organization’s leadership, and those who do are 3.7 times more likely to be engaged.
Why this matters now
Companies are asking managers to absorb three simultaneous shifts at once: AI adoption, return-to-office mandates, and flatter organizational structures. Each shift increases the load on the people who are supposed to keep teams aligned. When managers themselves become disengaged, the buffer between strategy and execution disappears.
The trust gap is the most expensive part of the problem. Employees who do not trust leadership are less likely to share information, take initiative, or stay through difficult projects. In a labor market where 64% of remote-capable workers still prefer hybrid or remote arrangements, the quality of daily leadership has become a retention signal that is louder than compensation for many teams.
What the research actually shows
The 2026 data point in the same direction from multiple sources. Human-centered leadership is not a soft initiative; it is a measurable driver of engagement, trust, and performance.
| Leadership factor | 2026 finding | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global employee engagement | 20% in 2025, down from a 23% peak in 2022-2023 | Gallup State of the Global Workplace: 2026 |
| Manager engagement | 22% in 2025, down from 31% in 2022 | Gallup State of the Global Workplace: 2026 |
| Follower needs from leaders | Hope 56%, trust 33%, compassion 7%, stability 4% | Gallup Global Leadership Report |
| Trust-to-engagement multiplier | Employees who trust leadership are 3.7x more likely to be engaged | Gallup Q2 2026 U.S. workplace data |
| Emotional intelligence and transformational leadership | Correlation r≈0.63 | Gerhardt et al. meta-analysis, Sage 2026 |
| Core skills changing by 2030 | 39% of core skills will change | WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 |
Manager engagement is now only slightly above individual contributor engagement, which means the people responsible for creating team energy are running low on it themselves. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report adds urgency: 39% of core skills will change by 2030, and employers cite skills gaps as the single largest barrier to transformation. Technical fluency is rising in importance, but communication, coaching, and empathy remain the most screened-for human skills in hiring and promotion decisions.
A 2026 meta-analysis published in Sage’s Human Resource Development Review confirms the link between emotional intelligence and leadership outcomes. Across 101 empirical studies, emotional intelligence correlates with transformational leadership at r≈0.63 and with team effectiveness at r≈0.41. These are not small associations; they suggest that leaders who read and respond to emotions are measurably more effective at mobilizing people.
A practical framework for leaders
Human-centered leadership can be built deliberately. The following steps give executives a starting point that produces measurable progress within a quarter.
- Audit follower needs by team. Ask employees whether they receive hope, trust, compassion, and stability from their immediate manager. Use the answers to identify which managers need support and which teams are at risk.
- Train emotional intelligence as a management skill. EQ is not innate personality; it can be developed through coaching, feedback, and structured practice. Focus first on self-awareness and active listening, the two capabilities that most improve trust.
- Right-size spans of control. Gallup’s recent span-of-control study shows that manager engagement declines as team size grows past the point a leader can coach effectively. Most managers perform best with eight to ten direct reports.
- Protect manager capacity. Remove low-value meetings, redundant reporting, and individual-contributor work that conflicts with people leadership. Managers cannot coach if they are still expected to produce like individual contributors.
- Measure human-centered leadership outcomes. Track trust scores, engagement trends, voluntary turnover, and participation in development programs. Tie leadership development decisions to those metrics rather than training completion alone.
The bottom line
Human-centered leadership is the defining management skill of 2026 because it is the only response that addresses the root cause of the engagement collapse. Technology, policy, and restructuring create pressure; trust, hope, and emotional intelligence create the stability people need to perform under that pressure. Organizations that develop these capabilities in their managers will retain better talent, execute change faster, and absorb the next wave of change. Organizations that keep treating leadership as a soft topic will continue to watch engagement and trust fall together.
Where to go from here
Leadership teams need a clear view of where manager capacity and trust are breaking before turnover spikes. Start by assessing which follower needs are strongest and weakest across the organization, then build targeted development for the managers who carry the heaviest load. leadership workshops →
