Look at any three people in your workplace. Statistically, only one of them feels good about being there.

According a recent Gallup report, more than two-thirds of U.S. workers (70%) are either “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” at work.

That’s bad news for companies already struggling to hire and retain talented employees, because “engaged employees are the ones who are the most likely to drive the innovation, growth, and revenue that their companies desperately need,” Gallup says.

How To Keep Employees Engaged

Jacob Morgan, co-founder of Chess Media Group and author of “The Collaborative Organization,” offers some perspective in a recent post: “Work is not the same as it used to be and we are seeing dramatic changes in both behaviour and technology, not just in our personal lives but in our professional lives.”

Good management leads to a direct increase in the number of employees who are engaged at work. Gallup found that managers who focus on their employees’ strengths can practically eliminate active disengagement in their organizations and double the number of workers who are engaged.

“Engaged employees have well-defined roles in the organization, make strong contributions, are actively connected to their larger team and organization, and are continuously progressing,” Gallup reports.

The study also found that employees who spend at least part of their time working remotely are more engaged than those who are on-site full time. And even though they don’t have a manager nearby to monitor their behaviour, they tend to work longer — an average of four hours longer per week — than their on-site colleagues.

Five Trends Shaping The Future Of Work

Morgan points to five trends that are shaping the future of work, affecting employee engagement, and challenging us to find new ways to unlock human potential in the workplace. Among them, managers need to “follow from the front,” understand technology, and lead by example.

Changes are already here — and the old way of doing things is breaking down. Many smarter organizations have already adapted, but how is it working out for the older, hierarchical organizations? They’re still figuring it out, and still relying on methods that worked in the past.