20% engagement: what actually makes a great workplace?

By Priya Raman

Only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025, and Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report estimates that low engagement cost the global economy approximately US$10 trillion in lost productivity.

FSDH Merchant Bank’s Head of Human Resources, Olubukola Lanipekun-Lawal, argues that this gap cannot be closed with offices, salaries or benefits alone. The test is whether employers create conditions in which people contribute, grow and make sound decisions every day.

What turns benefits into performance?

A company can invest millions in modern offices, offer competitive salaries and attractive benefits, and still fail the people whose work sustains it. Warning signs appear when talented employees stop contributing ideas, capable people leave because they see no future, and teams optimize for avoiding blame rather than meaningful results.

A great workplace reveals itself through daily experience and the work people can accomplish. Judgment, creativity, commitment and collaboration shape decision quality, customer relationships and adaptability. Culture therefore functions as a strategic asset, affecting performance, resilience and long-term sustainability rather than remaining a soft workplace concern.

Why trust comes first?

Trust is the starting point because employees need confidence that leaders communicate honestly, act with integrity, keep commitments and make decisions fairly and consistently. Managers build that confidence by explaining decisions, acknowledging mistakes, listening to feedback and showing respect, including during difficult conversations.

Selective enforcement of standards, or a gap between stated values and everyday behavior, erodes trust. Leaders who apply rules inconsistently make employees question whether the organization’s promises can be trusted.

What does a lived culture change?

Culture becomes real when leaders’ behavior under pressure, team collaboration, performance assessment and responses to mistakes match the organization’s purpose. Practical expectations must define good performance, assign accountability and support responsible decisions.

For a financial institution, risk culture must extend beyond policies, procedures and compliance frameworks. Employees need to understand why controls matter, feel responsible for protecting customers and the institution, and see doing the right thing valued even when it is less convenient. Otherwise, values remain words rather than habits.

What does inclusion change?

Diversity brings people into an organization; inclusion determines whether they are heard, respected and able to contribute meaningfully. It requires fair recruitment, transparent promotion, access to learning, reasonable accommodation, and a setting where employees can participate without concealing important parts of themselves to belong.

Leaders must examine whose ideas receive attention, who receives developmental opportunities and whether advancement follows clear, consistent criteria. When participation works, organizations can draw on more insight and experience to improve problem-solving, strengthen innovation and understand evolving customer and community needs.

How should leaders protect wellbeing?

Employee wellbeing is not an occasional initiative or a burden that belongs entirely to individuals. Workload, management practices, flexibility, relationships and employees’ control over their work affect physical, mental and social wellbeing.

In Nigeria, economic uncertainty, rising living costs and daily demands add strain. Gallup’s 2024 global workplace research found that 41% of employees experienced a lot of daily stress; over time, that strain can weaken concentration, collaboration, decision-making and retention.

Organizations cannot remove every external pressure, but they can build healthier working environments. Support for wellbeing is both a human responsibility and an investment in organizational sustainability that helps people remain engaged, productive and consistent in performance.

Why growth and recognition matter?

Employees need to see that their contribution matters and that their future extends beyond their current role. A strong workplace offers structured learning, mentoring, constructive feedback, leadership development, regular career conversations and opportunities to take on responsibility.

It also recognizes performance fairly through timely acknowledgment, useful feedback and opportunities to lead significant assignments. As new technologies transform work, employers must equip people with capabilities that keep them relevant, adaptable and effective rather than leaving development to chance.

What is the wider economic return?

Workplaces are where people apply, deepen and transfer skills. When employers support learning and performance, the benefits extend to productivity, stronger businesses, better service delivery and more resilient institutions.

For Nigeria, workforce capability remains central to sustainable economic growth. In February 2026, the World Bank estimated that deficits in nutrition, learning and on-the-job skills could produce future earnings losses equal to 111% of the projected earnings of children born today. The finding reinforces lifelong learning, including development after employment, as an economic priority.

Employers that invest in people therefore contribute to a skilled, innovative and productive workforce, supporting national growth and competitiveness beyond their own commercial results.

Can recognition prove a great workplace?

No single program, policy, award or certification makes a great workplace. Durable results require deliberate and consistent work on trust, leadership, inclusion, wellbeing and growth.

FSDH Merchant Bank has achieved Great Place To Work® certification for a fourth consecutive year, alongside other workplace recognitions. Lanipekun-Lawal cites them as affirmation of a sustained commitment to an inclusive workplace, where contribution supports stronger innovation and better outcomes for customers and communities.

Lanipekun-Lawal wrote: “Our aspiration is not simply to be recognised as a great place to work, but to ensure that this recognition is consistently reflected in the everyday experiences of our people.” Recognition validates progress; continued listening, learning and improvement remain necessary.

Lanipekun-Lawal’s final measure is whether an organization can inspire people to stay, grow, contribute meaningfully and succeed, rather than merely attract talent. The product-practice implication is equally concrete: as technology and customer needs change, leaders will need to keep converting trust into learning, accountable decisions and sustained contribution.