For years, employee engagement was seen as a matter of loyalty—staying with the same company for a long time, saying yes to everything without complaint, and defending your employer no matter what. But those days are long gone. These days, someone can be motivated, high-performing and fully involved… without planning to stay in the same company for the next 15 years. And that’s not a problem. In fact, it reflects a fundamental shift in how we relate to work.
Engagement is no longer about staying – it’s about showing up
Here’s the paradox: an employee can leave a company and still have a great view of their experience there. On the flip side, someone might stay in a role for years, but have mentally checked out long ago. That’s what the Anglo-Saxons call “quiet quitting” – doing the bare minimum, with no emotional involvement whatsoever.
Why the shift? Because engagement is no longer just about presence or loyalty. It’s become an internal drive, fuelled by much deeper factors: the sense of meaning in one’s work, the level of autonomy, and above all, the recognition people receive.
Meaning: the number one driver of motivation
Today, more and more employees aren’t content to just “do their job.” They want to know why they’re doing it, what it contributes to, and what impact it leaves behind. Sure, salary still matters. But what’s increasingly important is the perceived usefulness of what they do.
Take, for example, a developer working for a start-up focused on mental health. She writes code, fixes bugs, improves apps. On paper, her job looks like any other tech role. But each line of code here helps someone in distress. And that changes everything—she feels useful, aligned with the company’s values. The result? She’s engaged, not just present.
Autonomy: a form of respect
Giving people autonomy doesn’t mean leaving them to fend for themselves. It means saying: “I trust you. You’re capable of organising your work, making decisions, and taking action.”
An autonomous employee isn’t a lone wolf. They’re someone who’s empowered—who knows the goals but chooses how to reach them. They’re not micro-managed. They’re given space to learn, to fail, and to grow.
A simple example: offering flexible hours or partial remote work isn’t a perk. It’s a way of showing you don’t need to control someone to get great results. And that, in turn, massively boosts engagement.
Recognition: emotional fuel
Recognition isn’t just an end-of-year bonus or a quick “thanks” shouted across the open-plan office. It’s a fundamental psychological need. Being seen, heard and valued—that’s what gives people the drive to go the extra mile.
The great thing is, recognition costs next to nothing. A manager taking five minutes to highlight a job well done. A team celebrating a win. A colleague giving positive feedback. These are the small seeds of engagement, planted day by day.
One HR professional recently shared how a simple virtual “gratitude wall” — where anyone could post a thank-you message — completely transformed team morale within weeks. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to bring back a sense of purpose.
So, what’s next?
Yes, times have changed. Engagement can’t be forced, commanded, or bought. It has to be nurtured—gently and patiently—in a climate of trust and shared meaning. For HR and managers, this means rethinking how they operate: listening to what teams really need, giving them more room to act, and recognising wins as they happen.
It also means moving away from a “more is more” mindset and towards “better is better”. Better understanding what truly motivates each individual. Better aligning company values with employees’ aspirations. Better managing feedback and opportunities for growth.
Because in the end, an engaged employee today isn’t someone who stays no matter what. It’s someone who chooses to commit—because they feel they’re in the right place, at the right time.
If you’d like to assess your team’s satisfaction and engagement levels, MOTIVATION+ helps you identify the key drivers behind motivation and job fulfilment, so you can better guide people’s roles and strengthen their long-term commitment.
