Employee engagement is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot. But at its core, it’s pretty simple. It’s whether people actually give a damn about their work. You can see it in the small stuff:
- Staying late to help a colleague,
- Speaking up with a new idea, or
- Just bringing some energy to Monday morning meetings.
Gallup’s been tracking this stuff for years, and they’ve found something interesting: Managers make or break engagement for their teams. We’re talking about 70% of the difference coming down to who your boss is.
In this article, we’ll share with you the middle manager’s playbook for employee engagement. As a leader, keep reading to learn how to win on this initiative from the middle out.
Understanding Middle Managers: Key Role and Essential Skills
Being a middle manager is weird. You’ve got executives breathing down your neck about strategy. Meanwhile, your team is asking for more resources, clearer direction, even just a damn break. You’re trying to make everyone happy, and honestly? Sometimes it feels impossible!
It’s pretty obvious: Middle managers are stuck in the middle, but that’s exactly where culture lives or dies.
Ryan Beattie, Director of Business Development at UK SARMs, understands the value of middle managers in any company or organisation. He has his fair share of bridging the gap between the employees and the management.
Beattie says, “Middle managers influence up to 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores. They translate company vision into daily actions and create the microcultures where employees either thrive or merely survive.”
The biggest challenge in this role, however, is translating executive strategy into actionable tasks. On the flip side, you’re responsible for keeping your team motivated and engaged. As a middle manager, you become a translator, therapist, strategist all at once.
That’s exactly why middle managers matter so much. You control how information flows and how feedback feels. It’s a lot of responsibility, but it’s also where you can make the biggest difference!
Essential skills to drive engagement
Springboard surveyed over 1,000 professionals from businesses (with 5,000+ employees). About 70% of business leaders claim there’s a skills gap in the workplace across the globe, the report cites. It also reveals the top soft skills companies or organisations need the most right now (have a sneak peek below):
But as for middle managers, here are the essential skills they need to develop and acquire for employee engagement:
- Communication skills: Look, nobody needs more corporate speak. What they need is straight talk about what’s happening and why. Skip the jargon. Answer questions before they’re asked. And for the love of all that is holy, actually listen when people talk.
- Emotional intelligence: This isn’t about being touchy-feely. It’s about reading the room and responding like a human being. EQ trumps technical expertise in driving engagement. Managers who actively listen, show vulnerability, create psychological safety see their employee engagement improve.
- Conflict resolution: It’s inevitable that conflict happens. Pretending it doesn’t is like ignoring a fire alarm. Heed our advice: Deal with issues early, stick to facts, be absolutely fair. People notice when you handle things well, and they definitely notice when you don’t!
- Leadership: What makes a great leader? Being consistent, admitting when you screw up, clearing obstacles. Sure, it’s not complicated, but it’s not easy. Since only 40% of leaders rate their leadership as “very good” or “excellent,” there’s a lot of work to be done.
How Middle ManagerS CAN Boost Engagement
HR.com’s 2025 State of Employee Productivity and Engagement survey surveyed 236 human resources (HR) professionals worldwide. This is what the results reveal in a nutshell: Engagement is improving, but still far from where it needs to be.
The facts and figures don’t lie (see below):
While engagement has climbed from 23% in 2022 to 30% in 2025, over 40% of HR leaders say the average employee is still disengaged. Only 30% rated engagement at eight or higher on a ten-point scale, with 43% placing it at six or below.
That said, how can you champion employee engagement in your departmental unit? As a middle manager, take the crucial steps below.
1. Build a collaborative culture
This is quite obvious: People collaborate better when they’re not afraid to speak up.
To become a more engaging manager, start by acknowledging your own mistakes and welcoming diverse perspectives. Likewise, normalise experimentation in your company or organisation, even when it doesn’t go perfectly.
Nicolas Breedlove, CEO at PlaygroundEquipment.com, emphasises that middle managers play a crucial role in building this kind of culture. This is especially true in hands-on work environments.
Nicolas gives a concrete example in his company: “When we’re installing playground equipment, I make collaboration the default. Before any project starts, I ask every installer, new or experienced, to share potential risks or smarter ways to approach the layout.
Nicolas continues, “Sometimes the best ideas come from a junior team member who notices something we missed. When people see their input shaping the final install, they feel ownership, communicate more openly, even look out for one another.”
2. Recognise and reward contributions
As a middle manager, you can offer a personalised t-shirt collection and/or small incentives as employee rewards. However, the real impact comes from thoughtful recognition.
Simple callouts, such as thanking someone for stepping up and noting a smart solution, show you’re paying attention. When people feel seen, they stay motivated.
Recognition doesn’t need a budget…it needs attention. Notice when someone does good work and say so (publicly if possible, privately if that’s their style). Just be specific about what they did well. Generic praise is worse than no praise.
An employee rewards and recognition programme is indeed a powerful motivator. Take it from Achiever’s 2025 State of Recognition Report:
- About 90% of employees put in more effort when their work is acknowledged.
- 92% say they’re likely to repeat the behaviours they were recognised for. When people feel genuinely appreciated, engagement rises and the work gets better.
However, there’s still much work to be done in employee engagement. The same survey recognises a recognition gap in the workplace. The numbers don’t lie (have a glimpse below):
3. Encourage continuous feedback
As a new manager, it’s essential to enable employee voice by providing regular feedback. Annual reviews are like going to the dentist once every five years. By the time you get there, the damage is done.
Emily Ruby, owner of Abogada De Lesiones, recommends providing regular feedback instead of annual reviews. She also implements this strategy among her middle managers to drive employee engagement in the workplace.
Ruby shares, “We shifted from annual reviews to weekly 15-minute check-ins. This simple change transformed our culture. Employees feel heard, problems get solved faster, our turnover dropped by 40%.
She comes to realise, “Regular touchpoints create trust and momentum that yearly conversations simply cannot match.”
4. Seek support from higher-ups
Here’s something nobody talks about enough: Being a middle manager can be lonely as hell. So, it’s crucial to reach out to the top leaders and get all the help and support you need.
Middle managers need three things to succeed: Clear role expectations, practical tools, peer support networks.
The most successful programmes pair new managers with experienced mentors and create cohort learning experiences. Isolation kills engagement faster than any other factor.
But as a middle manager, here’s what you need to ask from your higher-ups:
- Clear guidance on basics like how to run 1:1s (hint: let the employee do most of the talking)
- Training that’s actually useful, not just theory
- Other managers to complain to (I mean, learn from)
- Time to actually manage people instead of drowning in admin work
5. Foster professional growth
As a manager, you are responsible for cultivating a culture of continuous learning to help your team grow.
People tend to get bored if they’re stuck doing the same work. Encourage them to learn new skills, take on different projects, explore what other teams are doing.
Andy Wang, Marketing Manager at Skywork AI, suggests investing in learning and development (L&D). He believes that offering training programmes helps promote employee engagement in the workplace. However, the proof is in what you accomplish.
Wang shares how he initiates this: “We offer monthly workshops and hands-on projects in AI tools relevant to their roles. These give employees time and resources to experiment and learn.”
He continues, “As a result, they feel empowered to take ownership of projects and stay engaged with the company’s mission.”
6. Measure engagement efforts
Sure, surveys matter. But they’re like taking someone’s temperature. They tell you if something’s wrong, not what to do about it.
The same HR.com report cites that surveys remain the go-to tool for measuring engagement, with 79% of organisations relying on them. This is followed by retention rates (61%) and exit or stay interviews (59%), as shown below:
But as a middle manager, here’s what’s worth tracking:
- How many people actually fill out your surveys (low participation = red flag)
- eNPS scores: Basically, would people recommend working here?
- Are 1:1s happening? Are they useful?
- Who’s learning new stuff or taking on stretch projects?
- Who’s leaving, and more importantly, who are you sad to see go?
- Sick days and signs of burnout
- Whether people feel safe speaking up
The Way Forward
If you’re managing from the middle, you already know it’s not easy. But here’s the thing: You’re the one who decides whether your team has a good day or a bad one. In short, you set the tone!
So, keep it simple:
- Talk to your people regularly…and actually listen.
- Be clear about what needs to happen and why.
- Notice good work when you see it.
- Help people grow without making it a big production.
- Use data to get better, not to cover your ass.
The job’s going to keep changing: Think of new tools, new generations, new ways of working. So, stay curious, learn from other managers, try things out, and see what works.
Middle management isn’t glamorous, but it’s where real leadership happens. It’s where you turn corporate strategy into something people actually care about. That’s no small thing!
Author: Jesse Galanis – freelance blogger
Photo credit: StockCake
