In 2024, only 32% of U.S. employees reported being engaged at work. Even worse, 16% were actively disengaged, contributing to a staggering $1.9 trillion in lost productivity annually.
If you find those stats disheartening, you are not alone. Despite widespread concern about employee engagement, most organizations struggle to develop effective professional learning opportunities that meaningfully connect with and motivate their workforce. Despite best efforts, employees remain discouraged, disconnected, and are often unable to effectively implement new strategies.
Here is the truth: It is not your team’s fault. The problem resides in how your training is designed and delivered. Without a comprehensive learning strategy, all the time effort, energy, and money you are spending is not likely to yield the results you need and want.
Diagnosing Failure
My team was hired to figure out why an organization's leadership training was not yielding desired results. They were struggling with a program that simply was not working—employees were disengaged, frustrated, and unable to translate their learning into meaningful action. Our deep-dive assessments revealed a critical disconnect: the leadership training was a generic, off-the-shelf solution that did not align with the specific skill gaps or the company's strategic objectives.
This is a common problem we see with organizations trying to fast-track leadership development. They invest in training, but without a tailored approach, those investments often fall short of creating real, lasting change.
Sound familiar? If your learners are disengaged, it is likely because your training is not meeting their needs. But here is the good news: most employees really want to do a good job. Disengagement does not have to be inevitable.
Three Steps to Turn Disengagement into Results
Here are three steps we took to transform the organization’s program and reignite team engagement:
1️⃣ Conducted a Needs Assessment: We began by creating a common understanding of what their employees really needed to succeed. We spent time shadowing employees, conducting interviews, and analyzing skill gaps in light of current needs and created an understanding of the skills they needed to develop in the near future.
We also discovered the existing training completely missed the mark on addressing day-to-day challenges and critical job demands. By realigning the training content with staff needs, we closed the gap between learning and performance—and saw results almost immediately.
Tip: Do not assume you know what your staff needs. Ask, observe, and gather data to pinpoint the skills and knowledge gaps holding your team back.
2️⃣ Make It Relevant and Personalized: Generic, one-size-fits-all training is unlikely to ever be a good match. We replaced the organization’s day-long workshops and three-ring binders with tailored digital content combined with in-person and synchronous learning opportunities that addressed specific skills known to improve leadership.
The training was offered in multiple formats and was job-embedded:
In-person sessions for hands-on learning.
Virtual options to meet more learners where they were.
Microlearning modules for quick reviews and on-demand learning.
Just-in-Time Feedback that was specific and clear.
We provided flexible delivery methods to accommodate individual learning styles and schedules. It was important for us to create a learning strategy that could seamlessly fit into employees' regular schedules. Once employees saw how the training directly connected to their success, engagement rates shifted dramatically and we were able to see measurable results.
Tip: Personalization Matters. The more relevant the content is to the employee's role and goals, the more likely they are to engage. Additionally, offering multiple modalities will support a variety of needs and schedules. If they can not make it to the training, they have exactly 100% of NOT learning what they need.
3️⃣ Focus on 'Sticky' Learning: Learning that sticks is learning that works. We incorporated actionable takeaways and job-embedded exercises so emerging leaders could immediately apply what they learned. For example, instead of theoretical concepts, we introduced role-playing scenarios based on real challenges they faced. We also made the training approachable, breaking it into smaller, digestible pieces to reinforce key concepts over time.
The result? Higher retention, better application, and measurable business outcomes.
Tip: Job-embedded exercises and actionable takeaways make training memorable. The more learners can see immediate value, the more likely they are to retain and apply the material.
The Bottom Line
When training meets the needs of your staff, engagement follows.
When engagement follows, results happen.
Disengagement is a signal that your learning strategy needs a better approach. By focusing on your teams’ real needs, delivering personalized content, and creating learning experiences that stick, you can turn disengagement into empowerment and drive measurable success for your organization.
Unsure what to do first? We can help! Connect via LinkedIn or through the contact form.