Key Takeaways
- Employee agency is strongly connected to business value: Eighty-seven percent of employees agree that the more they can personally help their company improve its impact on society and the environment, the more motivated and loyal they become, while the same share say that participating in this work gives their life more purpose and meaning. This suggests that loyalty and commitment are intertwined with a deeper employee expectation that work should provide meaningful avenues for contribution.
- In a business environment increasingly defined by disruption, employee agency is emerging as a significant differentiator: Organizations best positioned for long-term success are those that treat employee agency not simply as a matter of engagement, but as a foundational driver of adaptability, retention, and performance.
- Unlocking employee agency offers a dual opportunity to strengthen business performance while mobilizing a largely untapped workforce capability to address pressing social and environmental challenges: Organizations that embed meaningful participation into everyday work can unlock this latent potential to drive greater motivation, retention, and resilience while also contributing more effectively to meaningful social and environmental outcomes.
Why employee participation helps build a future-ready workforce
As organizations confront a more volatile operating environment, future readiness is often defined in terms of technology adoption, digital capability, and technical reskilling. GlobeScan’s latest research suggests that this view is incomplete. The GlobeScan and Ashoka report Building Human Change Capability in Times of Disruption argues that future-ready organizations are built not only through stronger technical systems, but also through stronger human change capability, meaning the confidence, agency, and participation employees need in order to help organizations adapt and create value under conditions of disruption. Drawing on the voices of 8,865 corporate employees across 33 countries, the report explores how embedding participation into everyday work strengthens organizational readiness.
The research shows that globally, 87 percent of employees agree that when they can personally help their company improve its impact on society and the environment, they become more motivated and loyal as employees. The same proportion also agrees that participating in this effort gives their life more purpose and meaning. This alignment suggests that the practical outcomes organizations care about, including loyalty and commitment, are intertwined with a deeper employee expectation that work should provide meaningful avenues for contribution. When employees are given meaningful ways to contribute to a company’s wider impact, the results show that work becomes more closely connected to identity and purpose. In a business environment increasingly defined by disruption, this can become a significant differentiator.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The business case for employee agency, both in terms of business performance and societal impact, is strong. Yet in many organizations, this potential remains underused because impact is not embedded in day-to-day work. For leaders, the priority is to move beyond purpose statements and create practical opportunities for employees to contribute through their roles and decisions. Doing so strengthens motivation and retention, while unlocking workforce capacity to address complex social and environmental challenges.
How This Insight Was Generated: This analysis draws on the voices of 8,865 corporate employees, defined as those working for companies with more than 1,000 employees, as part of a larger representative online survey of over 30,000 people across 33 markets tracked over time. It draws upon GlobeScan’s extensive global public opinion research, which spans more than two decades of insights.
Survey Question: Please indicate if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements. – The more I can personally help my company improve its impact, the more motivated and loyal I become. – Participating in helping my company improve its impact gives my life more purpose and meaning.
Countries surveyed: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Türkiye, UK, USA, and Vietnam.
