Two teams can sit in the same building, report into the same leadership, work under the same policies, and have completely different experiences of work. We see this pattern constantly, and it always comes back to the same cause: the direct line manager.

Our analysis doesn't treat a workforce as one group. It segments people into three behavioural groups, because each one needs a different response from leadership.

The Disengaged group is actively pulling against the business: higher absenteeism, more likely to leave, a drag on the wider team. The Engaged group is doing the opposite, driving productivity, better service and lower turnover. But the group that decides most outcomes is the one in between: the Swing Vote. They're doing the job, but not yet invested, and in every organisation we've measured, this is usually the largest group. They're also the most winnable, because they take their cue directly from the person managing them day to day.

This is why department-level analysis matters so much more than a single company-wide score. If leadership only sees the average, they miss the fact that one manager is quietly building an engaged team whilst another, in the same role, is losing people. The data doesn't just tell you engagement is a problem. It tells you exactly whose team, and why.

For senior leaders, this is often the finding that reframes everything. Culture isn't set by the mission statement on the wall. It's set, team by team, by whoever is managing that team. Get that right, and the swing vote moves in your favour. Ignore it, and no amount of company-wide initiative will fix what's happening one floor down.