Beyond Operating Systems: Part 2 - Building the Bridge to Engagement
This is Part 2 of our series exploring why operational excellence isn't enough to create truly engaged teams. In Part 1, we examined how popular business operating systems can create the "efficiency trap," excellent processes but disengaged people. Efficiency is too small of a god to worship. Today, we explore why engagement matters more than ever and how to build it into your organization.
When we left the CEO in Part 1, she had just realized that her company's impressive operational improvements hadn't translated into engaged employees. Her team was hitting targets but lacking energy. They were efficient but not inspired. She isn't alone in this discovery. Across industries, leaders are waking up to a fundamental truth: you can optimize processes all day long, but if your people don't care about the work, those processes won't deliver their full potential.
The question isn't whether to abandon operating systems like EOS® or Scaling Up. They are, after all, powerful and proven tools. The question is how to complement them with strategies that speak to the human side of work.
Why Engagement Isn't Just a Nice-to-Have
Some leaders might wonder if engagement really matters as long as results are being achieved. "If people are hitting their numbers, why should I care how they feel about it?" they ask. The research provides a compelling answer.*
When employees are highly engaged, turnover drops by 51%, employee well-being improves by 68%, and productivity increases by 23%. Companies with engaged teams see a 23% increase in profitability and a 63% decrease in safety incidents. But here's the number that should make every leader pay attention: in best-practice workplaces, engagement levels reach 75% among managers and 70% among non-managerial employees. These organizations don't just perform better, they create environments where people actually want to be.
The gap between average companies and high-engagement companies is enormous. While most organizations struggle with 20-30% engagement rates, the best companies consistently achieve 70% or higher. They've cracked the code on something that operating systems alone cannot deliver. Gallup estimates that if every organization reached the engagement levels of today's best-practice companies, the world economy could grow by an additional $9.6 trillion—equivalent to 9% of global GDP. The opportunity is massive, both for individual companies and society as a whole.
The Manager Factor
Here's where the story gets particularly important for leaders implementing operating systems. Managers account for 70% of the variance in team engagement. This means that you have more impact on engagement by creating an engaged company culture. Think about that in the context of your Level 10 meetings® or your Scaling Up check-ins. The manager running those sessions isn't just facilitating processes, they're either building engagement or destroying it with every interaction.
Yet as we saw in Part 1, manager engagement itself fell from 30% to 27% globally in 2024. The people responsible for inspiring others are themselves feeling uninspired. Female managers saw engagement drop by seven percentage points, while managers under 35 experienced a five-point decline. This creates a dangerous ripple effect. Disengaged managers lead disengaged teams, which leads to poor business results and higher turnover. The cycle feeds on itself until something breaks, usually in the form of good people walking out the door.
Operating systems can help managers track performance and run more efficient meetings, but they don't teach managers how to connect with people's hearts and minds. They don't show managers how to be coaches instead of taskmasters, or how to create psychological safety where people feel valued and heard.
This is where bridge-building becomes critical. Your operating system gives managers the structure they need to be efficient and improve communications. Engagement strategies give leadership the tools they need to be inspiring.
Beyond the Scorecard
Companies that achieve high engagement understand something crucial: people need more than clear expectations and regular feedback. They need purpose, connection, and growth. They need to feel like their work matters and that they matter as human beings.
This requires intentional culture building that goes far beyond any operating system. It means designing experiences that bring people together around shared values. It means creating opportunities for authentic relationships to form. It means recognizing that engagement isn't a metric to manage, it's a feeling to cultivate.
Consider the difference between two companies, both running EOS® effectively:
Company A runs perfect Level 10 meetings. Issues get solved. Numbers get reported. Rocks get reviewed. Everyone knows exactly what they need to do. But the meetings feel mechanical. People participate because they have to, not because they want to.
Company B runs the same Level 10 structure, but they've added elements that build connection and community. They start each meeting with personal wins, not just business wins. They celebrate not just what people achieved (not simply completing the task), but how the results helped others achieve their goals. They've created psychological safety where people can admit struggles without fear. The mutually explore possibilities instead of merely fixing ‘issues.’
Both companies hit their numbers. But Company B retains talent, attracts better candidates, and consistently outperforms during tough times. The difference is in how they've humanized the experience and built a community-enhanced culture (not a compliance-based one).
The Integration Strategy
Some organizations are finding powerful ways to layer engagement strategies on top of their operating systems. They use the structural foundation that EOS or Scaling Up provides, then add elements specifically designed to build community and connection. They might implement peer recognition programs that celebrate not just results but how results are achieved. They could create cross-functional project teams that break down silos and build relationships. They might establish mentoring programs that invest in people's growth beyond their immediate job requirements.
The key is integration, not replacement. The operating system provides the backbone for execution and accountability. The engagement strategies provide the heart that makes people care about executing well. For example, one company kept their quarterly EOS sessions but added "purpose conversations" where teams discuss not just what they're trying to achieve, but why it matters to customers and communities. Another organization maintained their weekly Level 10 structure but built in time for peer coaching, where team members help each other overcome obstacles and created discussions on possibilities.
These additions energize the business. When people feel connected to purpose and each other, they bring more creativity and effort to their work. The operational discipline remains, but it's powered by genuine engagement rather than mere compliance.
The CEO's Solution
The CEO's company eventually figured this out. The leadership team kept their EOS foundational tools but made strategic additions designed to build engagement alongside efficiency. They adapted them to create community-enhanced culture.
They added monthly team-building activities that were opportunities to work together on community service projects that connected to their company values. They implemented quarterly "purpose discussions" where teams explored how their work impacts customers and society. In all planning sessions (quarterly and annually) they added ample time to discover and discuss possibilities. They created a peer mentoring program that helped people grow beyond their immediate job requirements.
Most importantly, they trained their managers to be coaches, not just task assigners. They taught them how to ask questions that uncover people's motivations, how to provide feedback that builds confidence, and how to create environments where people feel safe to take risks and learn from mistakes. They also began measuring engagement alongside their other key metrics. It became a critical part of their scorecard, tracked with the same rigor as other quantifiable metrics. What gets measured gets managed, and engagement finally got the attention it deserved.
The result? Their Level 10 meetings still run efficiently. Moreover, now they're filled with people who care about what they're discussing and accomplishing. Their numbers are stronger than ever, but more importantly, their people are too.
Turnover dropped significantly. Employee referrals increased. Customer satisfaction scores improved as engaged employees provided better service. The company culture became a community-enhanced culture that attracted top talent and made competitors wonder what they were doing differently.
The Path Forward
The leaders who will thrive in the coming years are those who master both sides of this equation. They'll use operating systems to drive execution and accountability. But they'll also invest deliberately in creating cultures where people feel genuinely connected to their work and each other. Accountability changed from compliance to natural accountability.
This isn't about choosing between efficiency and engagement. It’s about combining them in ways that multiply their impact. When you have both structured processes and inspired people, you create something much more powerful than either could achieve alone. The operating system gets the work done. But engagement makes the work worth doing.
Start by auditing your current state honestly. Are your meetings efficient but lifeless and feeling mechanical? Do people know their numbers but not their purpose? Are your managers task masters or coaches? Do you measure engagement with the same rigor you measure cash and other metrics? Then begin building the bridge. Add purpose and possibility conversations to your planning sessions. Train your managers in coaching skills. Create opportunities for authentic relationship building. Measure engagement and make it matter. The companies that figure this out early will have a significant advantage. They'll retain top talent while competitors struggle with turnover. They'll innovate faster because engaged employees bring their whole selves to work. They'll weather storms better because their people are emotionally invested in success.
The efficiency trap is real, but it's not permanent. With intentional effort, you can have both operational excellence and human engagement. You can build a business that runs like a machine and feels like a community.
The question isn't whether this matters, the research is clear that it does. The question is whether you'll take action before your best people decide to find meaning somewhere else.
Thank you for following this series. The bridge between operational excellence and human engagement isn't built overnight, but every step toward a more engaging workplace makes a difference—for your business, your people, and your community. What's your next step? Take a moment to order Supercharge: A New Playbook for Leadership to discover how.
*Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2024: Key Results.
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