Gallop Leadership and Management Indicators: How to Develop Trust, Engagement and Performance

Trust is critically important within organizations, yet research continues to show that trust between employees, managers, and leadership is often lower than it should be. Organizations are ultimately collections of people, and individuals join them not only for compensation, but because they bring valuable skills, knowledge, and abilities to the workplace.

People remain with organizations for many reasons beyond pay. Strong managers play a major role in retaining employees by keeping them engaged in meaningful work, setting goals, creating a sense of community, and helping employees grow and develop professionally. When people feel connected to their work and believe they are contributing to something important, it strengthens both individual motivation and organizational performance.

While return on investment and shareholder value are important, organizations must also recognize the human side of work. Employees are often willing to contribute significant effort when they feel they are part of a supportive team, have purpose in their role, and know their work matters.

Problems emerge when leadership treats employees as replaceable machinery rather than people. If employees believe management does not support them, invest in their development, or care about their long-term success, organizations are likely to experience poor retention, declining morale, and the loss of valuable human capital.

Successful organizations build strong connections with employees and help them find pathways to achieve personal and professional goals within the company. Treating employees with respect and showing that they are valued can create deep loyalty. In many cases, people will remain with an organization for 20 or 30 years because they genuinely enjoy where they work, even when higher-paying opportunities may exist elsewhere. 

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Gallup Leadership and Management Indicators: Employee Trust, Engagement, and Organizational Performance

• Gallup measures employee perceptions of leadership, management quality, and performance management practices within organizations.
• Only 19% of employees strongly agreed that they trust their organization’s leadership, reflecting ongoing challenges in workplace confidence and communication.
• Gallup emphasizes that managers account for approximately 70% of the variance in team engagement, making management quality a major driver of organizational success.
• Strong leadership contributes to higher employee engagement, improved profitability, reduced turnover, and lower burnout levels.
• Modern managers face increasing pressure due to hybrid work, employee disengagement, turnover, and organizational instability in the post-pandemic workplace.
• Gallup advocates shifting from traditional annual performance reviews toward continuous coaching, strengths development, goal setting, and frequent feedback.
• Employees who receive regular feedback and participate in goal setting are significantly more likely to feel engaged at work.
• Gallup research identifies leadership competencies such as relationship building, communication, accountability, critical thinking, and employee development as essential for effective management.
• Research also highlights leadership blind spots, where managers often rate their own effectiveness more positively than employees do.
• Gallup’s findings suggest that investing in leadership development and manager support can improve organizational culture, employee wellbeing, and long-term business performance.

Gallup. (n.d.). Global indicator: Leadership & management. Gallup. https://www.gallup.com/404252/indicator-leadership-management.aspx

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