Insights From Lattice’s New Engagement Benchmarks

Over a million employees. Thousands of companies. And one clear signal: Clarity and connection are gaining ground, while motivation and recognition are falling behind.

Lattice’s new engagement benchmarks are in, offering a snapshot of employees' feelings. Based on anonymized data from the more than 5,000 organizations using Lattice, these benchmarks surface both encouraging trends and emerging risks.

For HR teams, this isn’t just a temperature check, it’s an opportunity to take action, recalibrate, and build a better employee experience for the year ahead.

✅ Connection and clarity are rising.

The latest benchmarks reveal a few key bright spots: Employees are feeling more informed, connected, and confident in their managers and company leadership. The strongest upward trends included:

• “People at work know about what's going on in my life.”
  This statement saw a five-point increase (from 58.82 to 63.86 — out of 100), suggesting stronger team connections and more personal openness in the workplace.‍
• “I feel confident about the future of this organization.”
  Confidence in leadership jumped more than 4 points, up to 70.42. This signals improved transparency around company direction and priorities.‍
• “My manager does their part to ensure we have consistent one-on-ones.”
  Up from 84.70 to 88.97, this increase highlights the value of structured check-ins — a clear win for companies that prioritize regular, intentional manager-employee conversations.

Together, these results paint a picture of growing alignment and interpersonal trust. Teams that invest in regular communication and thoughtful management practices are seeing that effort reflected in how their employees feel. See below for a closer look at the biggest benchmark percentage increases, between 2023 and 2024.

🔻 Motivation and recognition are dipping.

While the good news deserves celebration, it’s just as important to pay attention to where engagement is slipping and why. We noticed significant declines clustered around total rewards, daily motivation, and career support.

Here are some of the steepest drops:

• “Overall, I was satisfied with this company’s total rewards package.”
  This score fell more than eight points, the largest drop in the dataset. Employees may be feeling the impact of inflation, unclear comp strategies, or unmet expectations around benefits and bonuses.
  
• “I feel motivated to show up for work every day.”
  Motivation dropped to 69.49 — a worrying signal that companies may be struggling to maintain day-to-day engagement, especially amid economic and workload challenges.‍
• “My manager or another leader supports me in my professional development.”
  This decrease suggests that long-term career growth isn’t being prioritized or communicated effectively.

These declines are interconnected. Recognition influences motivation, which is tied to growth. Growth often depends on how supported someone feels by their manager. A shortfall in one area often ripples into others, and that’s where HR teams have the power to meaningfully intervene.

Here’s what companies can do next.

The 2024 engagement benchmarks show clear momentum in areas like clarity, communication, and connection. But they also highlight a shift in employee expectations around value, voice, and visibility. Here’s where HR teams can focus next:

• Reassess your rewards strategy. Total rewards is about more than compensation — it’s about fairness, transparency, and perceived value. Don’t wait for annual review cycles to listen and respond. As a starting point, consider using our total rewards survey template to get a deeper read on employee sentiment.
  
• Double down on development. Career conversations and growth take intentional effort and can’t be “set it and forget it.” Ensure managers are checking in regularly and sharing visible progress. If managers need a starting point, share our career conversation template. Most of these conversation starters are already available in Lattice.
  
• Revamp recognition. Your employee recognition strategy doesn’t need to be complex — just frequent, specific, and sincere. Peer-to-peer recognition, manager praise, and public shoutouts all move the needle.
  
• Keep the feedback loop open. You don’t have to limit your feedback to your main engagement survey. Follow up on engagement results with pulse surveys or listening sessions. Let employees see how their input leads to action.
  
• Identify trends faster. Use Lattice’s AI-powered survey analytics to help uncover the “why” behind score changes. The tool can quickly surface sentiment patterns and comment themes that might otherwise get missed, making it possible for HR teams to act on trends in the moment.

Benchmarks are just your starting point.

Benchmarks help you understand how you compare — but more importantly, they point you toward what’s possible. The companies improving most in 2024 didn’t find a silver bullet. They committed to consistency, trained their managers, and kept listening to their people.

At Lattice, we believe employee engagement isn’t a one-time initiative — it’s an ongoing partnership between HR teams and their workforce. These benchmarks aren’t just numbers, they’re an invitation to lead with clarity, support, and purpose.

Because when people feel connected, heard, and recognized, they thrive. And when they thrive, so does your business.

{{rich-takeaway}}