Perspectives: Employee Engagement That Works in 2026

January 21, 2026 at 2:00 pm ET

The Ultimate Playbook for Motivation, Performance & Retention

With AI disruption, economic uncertainty, shifting expectations around flexibility, and rising burnout, employee engagement is a mission-critical issue in organizations today. Teams are being asked to do more amid constant change, and while many organizations are investing in engagement, they’re still seeing “quiet disengagement,” lower discretionary effort, and increased turnover risk.

In this session, we’ll cut through feel-good tactics and focus on what actually moves engagement in 2026—things like people-forward manager behaviors, job design fundamentals, trust-building practices, and measurement that leads to action (not just more surveys).

Join us to:

• Identify the biggest drivers of engagement in 2026 and distinguish between “nice-to-have perks” vs. high-impact levers (think: role clarity, growth, recognition, workload sustainability, trust).
• Diagnose the root causes of disengagement using a simple framework that separates culture issues, manager capability gaps, and job/system design problems.
• Design an engagement strategy that’s tailored, not generic, by mapping interventions to specific employee segments and needs.
• Equip managers with practical, engagement-boosting micro-habits that improve motivation quickly.
• Measure engagement in a way that drives action and creates a culture of feedback and accountability.

Credits

Bonus for our live attendees… tune in for 1 HRCI and 1 SHRM credit!

Panelists – TBA!

Hema Crockett, she/her

Co-Founder, Gig Talent

Jackie Dube, she/her

SVP of People Operations