Engagement
May 11, 2026
Engagement, emotions, and performance: strategic opportunities
Brazilian organizations can advance in people management by creating more structured organizational practices
Work engagement has been consolidated, in recent decades, as one of the main explanatory constructs of organizational performance, especially in contexts of accelerated technological transformation. The Gallup report “State of the Global Workplace 2026” offers robust evidence that, despite technological advances, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, the human factor remains central to value generation in organizations. In this sense, employee engagement emerges not only as an indicator of well-being but as a strategic variable directly related to companies’ productivity, profitability, and adaptability.
The report indicates a drop in global engagement to 20% in 2025, after a peak of 23% in 2022, marking the lowest level since 2020. This decline, although seemingly marginal in percentage terms, has significant macroeconomic implications: it is estimated that low engagement has generated a loss of approximately US$10 trillion in global productivity, equivalent to about 9% of the world’s GDP. This data reinforces the understanding of engagement as a critical organizational asset , the absence of which impacts not only internal results but also economic performance on a global scale.
One of the most relevant findings of the study refers to the sharp drop (global analysis) in manager engagement, which decreased by nine percentage points since 2022. The report indicates that this retraction is not random, but is associated with structural transformations in organizational design and in the demands placed on the managerial role. Among the main factors, organizational flattening (organizational flattening) stands out, with a reduction in hierarchical levels and a consequent decrease in the number of managers, which expands the scope of responsibility of those who remain.
This movement leads to an increase in the span of control, meaning managers start leading larger teams, which, according to evidence from Gallup itself, is directly related to reduced engagement, especially when there is no adequate support, training, or resource redistribution. Furthermore, the context of digital transformation, driven by the adoption of artificial intelligence, has generated additional pressures on managers, who must simultaneously drive technological changes, sustain results, and support their teams in adaptation processes, often without sufficient preparation.
Added to this is the fact that leaders exhibit higher levels of stress, anxiety, and overload in their daily lives, which contributes to the deterioration of their work experience. Thus, the drop in manager engagement can be understood as a result of a combination of structural, emotional, and contextual factors, reinforcing the need to rethink the organizational support offered to middle management.
Brazil, within this report, is included in the Latin America and Caribbean region, which ranks among the best positioned in terms of global engagement. In 2025, this region presented 30% of engaged collaborators, positioning itself among the highest in the world, significantly above the global average of 20%. Brazil appears with 32% engagement.
The report also brings important global emotional data from workers. In Brazil’s case, a complex and highly relevant picture emerges for understanding work engagement. It is initially observed that 45% of Brazilian workers report experiencing stress daily, an index higher than the global average (40%) and the regional average (43%), indicating a work environment marked by high pressure and continuous demands.
This analysis deepens when observing the other emotional indicators. The percentage of workers reporting daily sadness in Brazil is 19%, below the global average (23%), suggesting a lower incidence of emotional states associated with prolonged dejection. Even more expressively, the rates of anger (17%) and loneliness (10%) are significantly below the global averages (22% for both), indicating an environment where emotions of a more socially disruptive nature, such as isolation and hostility, appear with less intensity.
This set of evidence points to a very specific emotional configuration: the Brazilian worker seems to operate in a context of high emotional activation (elevated stress), but with a low relative incidence of social disconnection emotions, such as loneliness, and a lower presence of negative emotional reactivity, such as anger.
This dynamic can be interpreted in several ways and may even be related to cultural characteristics that value interaction, proximity, and interpersonal bonds, acting as factors of emotional protection even in scenarios of high demand. Nevertheless, maintaining this balance is delicate, as chronic stress, when not managed adequately, can evolve into deeper states of exhaustion, compromising sustainable long-term engagement.
Another emotional factor that appears in the report is thriving, used as an indicator of broad subjective well-being, based on the Gallup life evaluation methodology. It is a measure that combines two central dimensions: the individual’s perception of their life in the present and their expectation regarding the future, normally operationalized through the so-called “ladder of life” (Cantril Ladder).
In this approach, individuals classified as thriving are those who positively evaluate their current situation and, simultaneously, project a favorable future, indicating not only momentary satisfaction but also hope, perspective, and a sense of progress. Unlike punctual emotional indicators (such as stress or sadness on the previous day), thriving captures a more structuring view of the human experience, functioning as a proxy for quality of life and sustainable well-being.
When this concept is applied to the Brazilian context, the data reveal a particularly interesting scenario. Brazil presents 58% of workers classified as thriving, a percentage significantly higher than the global average of 34%. This result indicates that, despite the daily challenges evidenced by high levels of stress, the majority of Brazilian workers maintain a positive assessment of their life trajectory and optimistic expectations regarding the future.
Analytically, this suggests that well-being in Brazil cannot be understood solely from daily emotions, but must be interpreted in light of broader factors, such as meaning attributed to work, social relations, individual resilience, and cultural context.
Given this scenario, it becomes evident that Brazilian organizations have a concrete opportunity to strategically advance in engagement management. The data indicate that positive foundations already exist, such as high levels of thriving, strong social connection, and an optimistic outlook on life, which can be enhanced by more structured organizational practices, such as better work distribution; strengthening organizational cultures that value belonging, purpose, and trusting relationships; and implementing continuous practices for listening to and monitoring the climate and emotions at work.
There is also another point that needs to be mentioned: if on one hand companies are called to act more intentionally, with practices that strengthen and boost engagement, on the other hand, ensuring structural conditions so that leaders themselves do not enter into burnout processes will be fundamental, which includes organizational support, continuous training, and realistic review of the demands imposed on the managerial role. The challenge, therefore, is not just in engaging people, but in creating organizational systems capable of sustaining this engagement without compromising those who are precisely its main mediators.
Who wrote this column
Denise de Moura
