Empowering Managers: Incentives To Drive Engagement And Culture

Incentivising Managers to Champion Organisational Culture and Employee Engagement

What Is the State of Employee Engagement Today?

The very nature of a manager’s role requires a constant balancing act—meeting the demands of senior leadership while supporting the needs of their direct reports. It is therefore deeply concerning that, according to Gallup’s State of the Workplace Report, global employee engagement fell from 23% to 21% last year—costing the global economy an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity. Most notably, manager engagement dropped from 30% to 27%, with Gallup citing this as the biggest contributing factor to overall disengagement (Gallup, 2025).

Is incentivising leaders to champion organisational culture and employee engagement an option, and if so, how is this done?

Management in a State of Crisis

Despite their pivotal role in executing strategy, only 44% of managers globally report receiving basic training when stepping into their roles (Gallup, 2025). This lack of preparation leaves many managers ill-equipped, contributing to feelings of inadequacy and ultimately, disengagement.

In addition, research shows that managers are overwhelmed by workload and unclear about their role. They are expected to adapt to remote and hybrid work trends, respond to economic volatility, manage supply chain risks, and integrate AI, often without the proper support or resources. This constant pressure breeds stress and burnout.

Recognition remains another challenge. Many managers feel undervalued, receiving little feedback or acknowledgment. The emotional demands of leadership, particularly during crises or change, are high. Managers are expected to stay composed and support their teams, frequently at the expense of their own wellbeing.

A Strategic Response: How Organisations can respond

Manager disengagement must be addressed urgently, as it has a cascading effect on team morale and organisational performance. Disengaged managers are less likely to inspire, coach, or retain high-performing teams.

Here are some practical steps organisations can consider:

1. Capability and support:

• Prioritise culture fit: Hire not only for technical competence but also alignment with organisational values and culture.
• Invest in management training: Focus training on soft skills—communication, conflict resolution, coaching, not just technical capabilities. Evaluating perceptions of growth and career advancement can highlight areas for improvement.
• Foster support structures: Encourage open dialogue, mentoring, and peer learning. Managers also benefit from access to senior leaders who can provide guidance during challenging times.
• Champion well-being: Promote work-life balance and mental health. This strengthens managers’ capacity to lead and builds a culture of care across the organisation.
• Clarify roles and expectations: Regularly revisit job descriptions and responsibilities in response to organisational change. A clear role reduces stress and misalignment. Ensure that roles allow for meaningful impact, a priority for employees today. Provide autonomy and shared responsibility for decision making.

2. Recognition and incentives

• Audit inventive structures: Align rewards with cultural leadership and engagement outcomes. Long-term incentive (LTI) plans rarely include metrics tied to values and engagement; this is a missed opportunity. Some companies favour share-based compensation with vesting periods extending over several years, aligning employee interests with company growth. For others it is profit sharing. The focus has shifted from earning a salary to building long-term wealth (Compport). The Wallstreet Journal reports that some companies are implementing quarterly bonuses tied to individual and team performance, with clear and attainable targets in order to motivate employees.
• Balance financial and non-financial rewards: Were culture and values are measured; they tend to have non-financial rewards. Consider balancing financial and non-financial rewards. Managers attain their goals through their teams and should therefore also be rewarded financially for culture and employee engagement.
• Recognise leadership in culture: Create formal mechanisms to reward those who live the values, foster cultural integrity and promote employee engagement.
• Define cultural KPIs: Make values, culture, and engagement measurable—and assign them meaningful weight in performance evaluations rather than treat them as secondary metrics. Link engagement data with key performance indicators such as productivity, turnover rates, and customer satisfaction to understand the broader impact.
• Engagement survey’s: Organisations tend to run engagement surveys. The results of these surveys and in particular the rate of non-participation provide valuable feedback which can be a powerful indicator, especially when combined with 360-degree feedback.

3. Measurement and feedback

• Use 360-degree feedback: Incorporate input from peers, direct reports, and leaders to holistically assess a manager’s cultural impact.
• Adopt a Continuous Listening Strategy: Many organisations are moving beyond annual surveys to more frequent pulse surveys—monthly or quarterly—to capture real-time feedback and address issues promptly. Pulse surveys tend to have a few questions that enable a focus on topics and areas where employee engagement can be improved. 
• Act on insights gained through survey’s and 360-degree feedback: By acting on issues raised the organisation encourages honest feedback and a culture of feedback which has been shown to improve engagement and organisational performance.
• Continuously adjust: Reassess initiatives during periods of change. For instance, during a transformation, elevate the importance of cultural KPIs for 2–3 years and weight them appropriately to support recovery and rebuilding.
• Regular check-ins: Build a rhythm of connection. Every manager should know how they’re performing individually, how they collaborate with teams, and how they create value for the customer.

Conclusion: Reframing Incentives for Sustainable Culture and Engagement

It’s no longer enough to expect managers to carry the weight of culture and engagement without the proper tools, support, or recognition. As the bridge between strategy and execution, managers are critical amplifiers of organisational values, but only when they themselves are engaged.

To incentivise managers effectively, organisations must go beyond surface-level rewards. This means embedding cultural and engagement outcomes into incentive structures, performance evaluations, and leadership expectations. It means recognising not just what managers achieve, but how they lead, how they inspire, and how they build trust.

When we invest in managers, not just with training, but with meaningful autonomy, recognition, and accountability for cultural leadership, we set the foundation for sustained performance. Culture and engagement are not side projects; they are strategic drivers of organisational resilience and long-term success.

Support your managers. Empower them. Reward them for leading in alignment with your values. The return on investment will be evident not only in employee engagement scores, but in a healthier, more cohesive organisation, built to thrive, not just survive.

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