The 2026 Perceptyx Benchmark Report

After several years of volatility, employee engagement continues to hold steady, with a modest uptick in 2025. Overall engagement rose one point to 81%, alongside similar gains in intent to stay and intrinsic motivation. Pride remains stable and continues to lead the index.

This consistency reflects a workforce that is more settled and showing up in predictable ways. Employees remain motivated and committed, even as external uncertainty persists. The absence of sharp swings suggests organizations are sustaining a more balanced and durable employee experience.

At the same time, progress remains incremental. Gains across most components are narrow, reinforcing that engagement is not rebounding dramatically but stabilizing at a consistent level. This signals a shift from recovery to maintenance, where organizations are preserving momentum rather than rapidly building it.

Advocacy continues to stand apart. While it has stabilized at 76%, it still trails other components and shows limited movement year over year. Employees may feel positively about their work and plan to stay but are more hesitant to actively recommend their organization.

The result is a more measured engagement profile. Stability is holding, and the gap between components is relatively tight. Future gains will likely depend on turning steady sentiment into stronger advocacy.

Employee engagement is no longer shaped by static workplace conditions. As organizations continue to evolve, engagement reflects how employees experience change, leadership, and opportunity in real time.

The strongest drivers of engagement point directly to that reality. Employees who are highly engaged are nearly twice as likely to say change is handled effectively (1.9x). Confidence in senior management and their ability to lead through change also stand out, reinforcing the importance of clear direction and consistent leadership in uncertain environments.

However, engagement is not driven by change alone. Employees are also more likely to be engaged when they see a future for themselves. Access to career opportunities remains a key driver, highlighting the role of development in sustaining engagement as work continues to evolve.

At the same time, connection still matters. A sense of belonging continues to differentiate the experience of engaged employees, underscoring the importance of inclusion and team culture even amid ongoing transformation.

Feeling valued also remains an important signal. While it falls just outside the top five this year, it continues to reinforce the role of recognition and support in shaping how employees experience their work.

Taken together, these drivers tell a coherent story. Engagement is built through stability in motion. Employees are more engaged when they trust leadership, feel supported through change, and believe they have opportunities to grow within the organization.

While it falls just outside the top five drivers of engagement this year, feeling valued continues to play a central role in shaping how employees experience their work. Employees who are highly engaged are 10 times more likely to report feeling valued than those who are fully disengaged, reinforcing its importance as a core signal of connection and commitment.

However, that experience is not consistent across the workforce. Employees early in their tenure report the highest levels of feeling valued, with 78% responding favorably during their first year. That sentiment declines quickly and stabilizes in the mid-60s to high-60s range over time. This suggests that early experiences of recognition and support are not always sustained.

Differences by job level are even more pronounced. While 69% of individual contributors report feeling valued, that rises to 76% for managers and 87% for executives. This gap highlights a disconnect in how recognition and appreciation are experienced across levels of the organization.

In contrast, generational differences are relatively small, with only a few points separating groups. This indicates that feeling valued is less about who employees are and more about where they sit within the organization.

These patterns point to an important challenge. Feeling valued is not just shaped by formal recognition or communication. It is experienced through visibility, involvement, and day-to-day interactions. As roles evolve and new technologies reshape work, maintaining that sense of value becomes even more important.

Organizations that sustain a consistent experience of feeling valued across roles and over time are better positioned to retain talent, reinforce engagement, and help employees stay connected to their work.

Employees no longer expect stability in how work gets done. Roles are evolving, new technologies are reshaping expectations, and the pace of change continues to accelerate. What employees do expect is support in navigating that change.

That support is not evenly experienced. Employees who feel supported adapting to change are more than five times as likely to say change is handled effectively. The gap between those who feel supported and those who do not defines whether change works.

The biggest differentiators are also the areas where organizations struggle most. Just over half of employees say change is handled effectively, and only 61% believe senior leaders lead change well. These are points of separation between organizations that navigate change successfully and those that fall behind.

Leadership plays a central role, but it is not the only factor. Employees also need to be part of the process. Feeling heard, involved in decisions, and clear on the reasons behind change all significantly shape whether support is felt. These elements turn change from something that happens to employees into something they can engage with.

This reflects a broader shift across organizations. Change is now continuous, not episodic. As organizations adapt to new technologies and evolving ways of working, support becomes a stabilizing force.

Organizations that lead through change effectively do more than communicate updates. They build understanding, invite input, and involve employees in shaping what comes next. That is what separates change that disrupts from change that drives progress.

Executives report very high confidence across nearly every future-focused item. Over 90% say they understand organizational goals, feel motivated by the mission, and see a clear link between work and outcomes. Even forward-looking sentiment, like optimism about the future, reaches 83% among executives.

That confidence drops meaningfully at each level of the organization. Among managers, favorability typically falls into the high 60s to mid 80s. Among individual contributors, it drops further, with several items landing in the mid 60s.

The largest gaps appear in areas tied to vision and belief. Optimism about the future falls from 83% among executives to 63% for individual contributors. Perceptions that senior leaders communicate a clear vision drop from 81% to 67%. Confidence in leadership declines from 77% to 73%, and belief that the organization is positioned to compete effectively falls from 76% to 68%.

More grounded elements of the experience hold more consistently. Understanding goals and objectives remains relatively strong across levels, declining from 93% among executives to 82% for individual contributors. Feeling motivated by the organization’s mission shows a similar pattern.

This suggests the challenge is not awareness, but connection. Employees understand what the organization is trying to do. They are less certain about what it means for the future, and whether leadership is guiding the organization there effectively.

Communication alone won’t close this gap. Employees need a vision they can see, believe in, and connect to their own experience.

Employees are largely optimistic about the role AI can play in their organizations. Around two-thirds believe AI will help their organization stay competitive (67%), improve productivity (65%), and allow them to focus on more meaningful work (63%). Many also see AI as a driver of innovation.

However, that optimism is not matched by readiness. Only 33% of employees feel well-prepared to use AI tools in their daily work, and just 31% say their organization has a clear plan for increasing AI adoption. Nearly half report feeling unprepared.

Adoption at the team level also lags. Only 41% say their team encourages learning and experimentation with GenAI, suggesting that even where tools are available, consistent usage and support are still developing.

This gap between belief and experience is critical. Employees see the value of AI, but many are still waiting for clear direction, practical enablement, and opportunities to build confidence in using it.

As AI continues to reshape how work gets done, organizations that move beyond vision and invest in hands-on learning, clear adoption strategies, and team-level support will be better positioned to turn potential into impact.

Employees want to grow. But more importantly, they want to believe that growth is actually possible where they are. The ability to achieve career goals is one of the clearest signals of whether that belief exists.

That belief is shaped by a system, not built on a single experience. The strongest driver is access to career opportunities. Employees who see opportunities for advancement are far more likely to believe they can achieve their goals. However, access alone is not enough.

Fairness plays a critical role. When advancement opportunities are awarded fairly and employees believe there is equal opportunity for success, confidence in growth strengthens. Without that trust, even visible opportunities can feel out of reach.

Development also remains central. Opportunities to improve skills are a key part of the equation, reinforcing that growth is something employees can actively work toward. At the same time, feeling valued signals that the organization recognizes and supports that growth.

These elements work together. When employees see opportunities, trust the system, and feel invested in, growth becomes tangible. When they do not, it becomes abstract and unachievable.

This gap widens as roles change and expectations shift. Organizations that make growth feel real are more likely to retain talent, sustain engagement, and build a workforce ready for what comes next.

Employees enter organizations with a strong belief in their ability to grow. Early signals are positive, with high marks for training (79% to 80%) and especially for growth opportunities (85%) at onboarding.

But as the nature of work continues to shift, that foundation becomes harder to sustain. During the employee experience, skill-building improves slightly, rising to 77%, yet perceptions of training quality and growth decline. This suggests that while development opportunities exist, they are not always keeping up with evolving role demands.

By exit, the gap is clear. Favorability falls to 59% for training availability, 56% for training satisfaction, and just 51% for growth opportunities. Even skill development, which peaks mid-experience, declines to 62%. What begins as a strength becomes a source of friction.

This pattern reflects a broader challenge. Jobs are changing faster, expectations are rising, and new technologies are reshaping how work gets done. When development efforts are not continuously refreshed and reinforced, they quickly lose relevance.

L&D is not just about enabling growth, but about creating stability. Organizations that continuously invest in relevant, evolving development experiences are better positioned to support employees and sustain performance over time.

Organizations continue to invest in new tools, systems, and ways of working. But for employees, change is experienced not just through strategy but through their manager.

Across the employee experience, managers remain one of the most consistent strengths. More than 80% of employees say their manager keeps commitments and creates an environment where they can raise concerns. Around 79% say their manager supports their development, and 77% report receiving regular feedback. These scores are not only high, but stable over time.

At the same time, broader enablement tells a different story. While most employees say they have the information they need to do their job (80%) and the resources to be effective (77%), fewer feel involved in decisions that affect their work (68%). This suggests that access alone is not enough to translate change into meaningful experience.

As organizations introduce new technologies, including AI, adoption depends on more than availability. Employees need guidance, context, and reinforcement in how to use new tools. Managers play a critical role in making that happen.

This reflects a broader shift in how change is delivered. It is no longer enough to launch new systems or communicate new priorities. Change becomes real through consistent, day-to-day interactions. Managers are the ones who connect new ways of working to individual roles, reinforce expectations, and create space for learning.

As such, investing in managers is essential. Organizations that equip managers to lead through change are better positioned to ensure adoption, sustain performance, and help employees navigate what comes next.