Employee engagement for deskless workforces: All you need to know

Employee engagement is increasingly becoming one of the most important indicators in measuring satisfaction at work. Employees today are looking for more from their job. They want to see the impact of the work they’re doing, be enthusiastic about the organisation they work for and committed to their fellow workers. The more engaged your colleagues are, the bigger the positive impact on business outcomes.

We understand that it can be difficult to engage your workforce when you’re unsure of where to start. Don't worry, we’ve got you covered. In this guide we’ll explore everything from the basics to the in-depth issues and importance of employee engagement whether your workforce is deskless, desk-based or a mixture of both:

• Employee engagement definition
• Why is employee engagement important?
• The impact of poor employee engagement
• How engaged are employees of today?
• Types of employee engagement
• Drivers of employee engagement
• Who is responsible for employee engagement?
• Employee engagement examples in action
• Benefits of strong frontline engagement
• Reasons for low employee engagement
• How to improve employee engagement
• Take action
• Frequently Asked Questions

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation they work for and its goals.

This emotional commitment means that engaged employees actually care about their work and their company. They don't work just for the pay, but on behalf of the organisation's goals, ultimately creating more success for the company.

Why is employee engagement important?

Many organisations continue to struggle engaging their workforce. The Institute of Internal Communications’ IC index states there is a 39 point gap between employee engagement when internal comms are seen as ‘good’ versus ‘excellent’. As businesses, we can’t expect employees to suddenly feel engaged overnight; the groundwork needs to be put in to build and nurture a supportive and collaborative culture.

The benefits of employee engagement simply can’t be overlooked. An engaged workforce has been proven to:

• Reduce staff turnover
• Improve productivity and efficiency
• Increase employee retention
• Deliver higher profits
• Boost business connectivity and performance
• Reduce absenteeism

The impact of poor employee engagement

The percentage of engaged employees within a business can often be an indicator of success. Gallup’s recent State of the Global Workforce report found that the global percentage of engaged employees fell from 23% to 21%, with the engagement drop seen at young (under 35) manager level.

The number of disengaged employees in a business can highlight serious workplace dysfunction, poor work culture and even a lack of clarity when it comes to roles and skills.

Before we discuss how to improve employee engagement across your frontline workforce, it’s important to know the impact that poor employee engagement can have on business outcomes:

Decreased productivity

Poor employee engagement will lead to decreased productivity, meaning it takes employees longer to get a task done. Research shows that disengaged employees are less likely to work hard, feel motivated, or meet expectations for their role, and they cause 60% more errors and defects in work performance. 69% of employees in our recent research agreed that they would be more productive at work if they knew their time outside of work was protected.

Decreased morale and poor company culture

Company culture and employee engagement have a symbiotic relationship. 75% of employees agree that workplace culture has a direct correlation to their on-the-job engagement. If the culture is encouraging and supportive, employees are likely to feel more engaged. A dysfunctional culture can lead to widespread disengagement, low morale and workplace anxiety.

Increased costs

Disengaged employees are certainly costly. Not only do they tend to be a drain on a company’s time and resources, but they are also responsible for driving away other engaged employees. Significant costs are used every time you hire and onboard an employee. If that employee doesn’t stick around for long, your hiring process can become unnecessarily expensive.

To put the prob­lem into per­spec­tive, dis­en­gaged employ­ees are thought to cost the UK £52 – 70 bil­lion per year in lost productivity.

Failure to achieve company goals

When employees feel disengaged from the company they work for, they are less likely to see the value in working to meet corporate goals.

71% of senior executives and business leaders believe that employee engagement is integral to achieving organisational success. It’s clear to them that an engaged workforce leads to improved productivity and performance, as well as increased motivation.

How engaged are employees today?

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report found that 79% of the global workforce are not engaged at work. The US and Canada had the highest engagement rate at 31%, while Europe came last with an engagement score of just 13%. On the plus side, this data demonstrates that there is plenty of room for improvement!

Recommended reading 📖: 25 employee engagement statistics you wouldn't believe

Types of employee engagement

Recognising the extent of employee engagement can help you to better understand the attitudes and performance levels of your people and what you can do to improve engagement across the business.

1. Actively engaged

Actively engaged employees are passionate about their role and fully committed to the company mission. These people have meaningful relationships and interactions with their colleagues and feel like they are a part of a supportive and close-knit team. They bring a positive attitude that can trickle down into other departments.

The aforementioned Gallup report identified that just 21% of the global workforce is actively engaged.

2. Not engaged

Most employees fall into the middle ground for levels of engagement. They put in their time and fulfill their job responsibilities, but they are more neutral about the company and don’t really go above and beyond the realms of their job description.

This group may just need a reason to be inspired and could become actively engaged with an extra push from managers and leaders.

3. Actively disengaged

While actively disengaged employees are usually the outliers, they can have a big impact on team dynamics. These employees are negative and resentful about the company and are often under-performers.

Actively disengaged employees are likely to be looking for jobs at other organisations and can impact a company’s retention data. Plus, this negative energy can impact team morale, reduce productivity and impact the quality of work output.

Positive drivers of employee engagement

Analysis conducted by The Conference Board identified 26 common drivers of engagement among 12 leading engagement research companies, 8 of which were common to all:

• Trust and integrity: How well do managers communicate?
• Nature of the job: Is it mentally stimulating day-to-day?
• Correlation between employee performance and company performance: Do employees understand how their work contributes to the company’s success?
• Career growth opportunities: Are there opportunities for professional development within the business?
• Pride in the company: Do employees take pride in working for the organisation and feel happy contributing to its success?
• Coworkers/team members: How much influence do they exert on the employee’s satisfaction and engagement?
• Employee development: Is the company making an effort to develop the employee’s skills?
• Relationship with managers: Does the employee have a trusting and valuable relationship with their manager?

Who is responsible for employee engagement?

Ultimately, business leaders are responsible for leading change and driving a culture of employee engagement across their organisation. Leaders and management need to be visible and in touch with front line staff. Without effective leadership communication, engagement rates will start to decline.

Not many employees in larger businesses have a relationship with the board of directors or CEO. This means that the main relationship they formulate with their employer is with their direct boss, peers and team.

Essentially, leaders have to be able to engage the people they’re leading, motivating them through the following sub-components:

• Trust
• Clarity of purpose
• Alignment of systems
• Unleashing talent

There’s also a second component to leadership. Leaders need to feel driven and engaged in the company mission themselves. If they don’t believe in it, how can they expect others to?

Employee engagement examples in action

Now, you should understand the drivers of employee engagement and who is responsible for them. Let’s take a look at 5 examples of the key drivers of employee satisfaction, how they correlate with different needs and what they look like in action.

• Key driver of engagement |
• Satisfies this need
• |
• Effect on employee performance
• “My company recognises and rewards employees who are doing their jobs well or going above and beyond.” | Esteem belonging |
  • When this need is met, employees strive to earn the company’s recognition and are supportive of their team members who do the same.
  • When this need is not met, or met unfairly, such as favouritism, employees can become less productive or unhealthily competitive with one another.
• “There is a strong sense of teamwork and company culture here.” | Belonging |
  • When this need is met, employees communicate well with each other and with management, workplace conflict is kept to a minimum and handled effectively.
  • When this need is not met, tensions can rise between team members or management, and productivity takes a backseat to conflict resolution.
• “I feel confident in my job security with this company.” | Job safety |
  • When this need is met, employees can relax and bring their best effort to their work, knowing they will still be there tomorrow.
  • When this need is not met, employees may be paranoid, insecure, and less devoted to doing their best.
• “My work space is comfortable, and I have the tools and resources I need.” | Psychological |
  • When this need is met, employees look forward to coming to work and can perform more productively.
  • When this need is not met, employees may dread going to work and not accomplish as much each day.
• “I am fairly compensated with salary and benefits and work perks.” | Psychological esteem |
  • When this need is met, employees are likely to remain committed to the company and don’t feel taken advantage of.
  • When this need is not met, employees may become suspicious of or competitive with each other, or begin looking for other employment.

Benefits of strong frontline employee engagement

The benefits of a happy and engaged deskless workforce are endless. Let’s explore what you can start aiming for today.

1. Higher employee retention

Employee retention is one of the biggest problems that companies face. The link between employee engagement and retention is well established and employees who are highly engaged are 87% less likely to leave an employer.

Your people will stay with your company longer when:

• Employees know they will be recognised and appreciated for their contributions
• Employees see opportunities for professional growth and career development
• They understand when and why business change happens

2. Happier employees

Highly engaged organisations don’t have to resort to things like peer pressure, threat of termination or other high-stress behaviors to motivate employees. Instead, these organisations use positive practices like employee recognition, one-on-one meetings and gathering ongoing feedback to drive performance.

3. Improved employee satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is different from employee engagement. Satisfaction measures a minimum level, while engagement tries to get a whole workforce to achieve greater.

The Institute of Internal Communication’s 2025 IC index reported that when internal comms is seen as ‘good’, employee engagement is just 34%, whereas when internal comms is perceived as ‘excellent’, this figure jumps to 73%. This demonstrated that there is a lot of scope to improve frontline employee satisfaction through better communication.

4. Greater employee loyalty

Gallup reports that 50% of the global workforce is watching for or actively seeking a new job.

Even if an employee isn't looking for a new job, that doesn't mean they won't leave if something better comes along. Engaged employees who feel valued tend to be more inclined to stick around. They’re much less likely to leave or be swayed by other options when they care about the success of the organisation and feel appropriately challenged by their work.

5. Improved productivity

Productive employees focus on the right things at the right times. There’s very little wasted effort and the work they do creates the results you want.

Research shows that engaged employees are 17% more productive than their peers. Productivity is the engine on which a business thrives. The more efficient your workforce is, the more your company will succeed.

6. Lower absenteeism

Highly engaged workforces see 41% lower absenteeism! This is largely down to improved mental and physical health from a productive, safe and encouraging working environment.

Recommended reading 📖:How to build an employee engagement strategy that works

Reasons for low employee engagement

Employee disengagement doesn't happen overnight. It’s a build up of factors that will lead an employee to become unproductive and unhappy at work. Take a look at some reasons which may trigger disengagement. If anything resonates, you know that there are ways for you to improve things in your organisation.

Poor communication

Communication is crucial when it comes to engaging your employees, especially those who are deskless or remote. If management isn't communicating with the workforce and fails to have one-to-one meetings about how well staff are performing, it can often lead to miscommunication.

Furthermore, if your company doesn't have an effective means of communication or you're still using email as your main communication method, the one-sided communication style can quickly become boring. Plus, what about frontline employees without email or laptop access? A dedicated mobile app can enable your entire workforce to stay connected, wherever they are.

Lack of recognition

Employees who feel valued will continue to work hard to impress leadership. Those who are not recognised for their efforts will eventually stop trying, so it really is important to recognise your employees for their contributions and hard work to boost morale.

There are many ways that you can promote employee appreciation, but having an employee recognition system built into your intranet is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to do it. Integrating this into user timelines enables colleagues to comment and interact with others’ achievements and encourages more people to share a note of thanks. This creates a positive working environment, which will in turn, boost morale, wellbeing and satisfaction at work.

Lack of collaboration

Teamwork is a huge part of great company culture. Effective collaboration enables cross-departmental groups to work together to solve problems and achieve wider company goals.

Bring together all areas of your workforce with social and community features like Timeline and Hubs or a Content Management System where important company documents can be accessed at any time.

Poor management

Employees want transparency from management. This includes having contact and visibility of senior leadership, being kept in the loop about future development, goals and the company vision.

Having a central hub for all important company information to be found and all updates to be shared means that nobody misses out and everyone has the opportunity to contribute in whichever capacity they like.

How to increase employee engagement

Companies that really value their employees will reap the rewards of a dedicated, passionate and skilled workforce. Those that fail to nurture and reward their staff won’t get the best out of their people, regardless of how talented they might be.

1. Simplify where possible

Outdated or disparate processes and systems will slow your teams down and ultimately frustrate them. With efficient content management processes in place, workload is made much more manageable and easier to handle.

Centralised content management that integrates with your third party document storage can provide a single source of truth. No more wasting time looking all over the place for information.

Plus, remember your non-desk based colleagues. An app version of your intranet can make it so much easier for your frontline workers to access important resources and tools to do their job.

2. Celebrate the small things

It’s always nice to feel appreciated for a job well done. By incorporating awards and recognition into your culture, the feeling of accomplishment when getting a shout-out for supporting on a project or going above and beyond can be that boost that brightens up a stressful or busy week. A little thanks can go a long way!

3. Encourage employee interaction

Building relationships outside of the confines of meetings and work-based projects can be an effective way of bringing together employees who may not usually get to interact with each other. Offering opportunities to connect beyond the day job can improve happiness at work and ultimately benefit the employee experience.

Social spaces and community Hubs bring like-minded people together, allowing teams to share and collaborate on common interests. By hosting online and offline events or creating communities for colleagues, like-minded people can create relationships that may not have otherwise existed.

4. Invest in your employees, invest in your company

If you don’t invest in the very things that your people feel they are lacking, you will likely see the negative impact it can have on employee engagement.

Whether it’s development opportunities, new equipment, modern tech or social events to bring people together, by putting aside budget to support the wants and needs of your people, you are, in essence, investing in the success of the company.

You don’t need to guess what your employees might need or want to help them perform better at work. Pulse Surveys are a great way to target, collect and measure feedback that can be actioned upon. Regular employee engagement surveys can give you a lot of data and help to benchmark employee engagement and satisfaction year on year.

5. Focus on employee wellbeing

It’s far easier for individuals to engage with their work when they know their employer puts their wellbeing first. This includes ensuring workload is manageable and giving employees the right to switch off in their leisure time.

The links between burnout and disengagement are clear. With our Burnout Report finding 79% of employees agree they would be more loyal to a company that respected their personal time, it’s a no-brainer for retention as well as job satisfaction and engagement.

6. Emphasise company culture

Did you know that employees will be more engaged if they have a common goal and a shared culture? Having a shared culture not only promotes consistency in the business, but also allows organisations to benefit from an open and friendly workplace.

Oak allows you to harness the best of your company culture and make it the beating heart of what people love about working there. Putting your people front and centre and giving them a voice can empower them to really get on board with the company culture. This could include encouraging them to contribute through providing feedback in surveys, sharing social posts and interacting with colleagues’ posts, sharing recognition for others and getting involved in community and social groups.

7. Provide a personalised onboarding experience

Onboarding sets the tone for your employees from day one, or even before their first day! A positive onboarding experience can pave the way for employees to settle in quicker and stay with the company for longer, so it’s really important to give a strong first impression.

From learning materials to cultural and information signposts, your employee engagement software can be the springboard for a great introduction to the company.

Defining ROI in today’s workplace

Of course, employee engagement and wellbeing can help companies yield better financial returns. As you’ve seen in this guide, employee engagement is one of the biggest financial drivers for companies, regardless of size or industry.

Companies with an engaged workforce have reported seeing a significant uplift in the volume and quality in sales: on average 20% higher than those without. With 17% higher productivity and 21% higher profitability than companies without any effective engagement strategies, it’s no wonder that some of the world’s most successful companies are now incorporating employee engagement into part of their wider strategies.

Take action for employee engagement

Now that we’ve laid out the benefits and impact of an engaged workforce, it’s over to you to put a plan in place to improve employee engagement in your organisation.

Try out our employee engagement action plan template which will guide you through the steps towards a more engaged workforce. We look forward to hearing how you get on!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is responsible for employee engagement?

Leaders and management need to be visible and in touch with frontline staff. Without effective leadership, engagement rates will start to fall.

How do you improve employee engagement?

Companies that value their employees will reap the rewards of a dedicated, passionate and skilled workforce. You must put your employees' wellbeing first, emphasising a strong and supportive company culture.

How do you measure employee engagement?

Measuring employee engagement the right way is often something a lot of companies struggle with.

There are various ways to measure the level of engagement within your company. As a leader you can either:

• Use employee engagement surveys
• Measure employee engagement yourself
• Use a hybrid approach in which annual engagement is measured by the survey provider, while pulse engagement is measured by the company throughout the year.