The Employee Engagement Growth Model
Employee Engagement Is a Business-Performance Issue, Not an HR Initiative.
Organizations execute strategy through people. The Employee Engagement Growth Model gives executive teams a practical way to examine whether the conditions people experience every day are helping, or constraining, the organization's ability to execute.
Download the Executive Briefemployees across 90 countries in Gallup's engagement meta-analysis
Source: Gallup Q12 Meta-Analysis, 11th Edition
business and work-unit outcomes Gallup found related to employee engagement, including profitability, productivity, and turnover
Source: Gallup Q12 Meta-Analysis, 11th Edition
of U.S. workers say their mental health is negatively affecting their work performance
Source: TELUS Health Mental Health Index, U.S., Q2 2026
No single factor determines organizational performance, and engagement alone does not cause every business outcome.
Leadership Operates in the Gap
Most organizations do not intend to create unclear priorities, low trust, poor collaboration, limited opportunity, or environments where people are reluctant to speak. But there can be a meaningful difference between the organization leaders intend to create and the organization employees experience.
The Employee Engagement Growth Model connects leadership practices, individual employee needs, employee engagement, and team outcomes in one operating framework. Select any element of the model to see how it connects.
Five Questions for the Executive Team
Move from engagement scores to execution.
- Are our people motivated, capable, and committed enough to execute our strategy?
- Where is employee experience creating friction that affects business performance?
- Are our leaders equipped to create the conditions people need to perform?
- Where does employee experience differ materially across teams, businesses, levels, or geographies, and why?
- If employee engagement affects execution, who owns it?
These questions move the conversation beyond an engagement score toward the relationship between leadership, employee experience, and organizational performance.
About the Author
Donald Thompson
- EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Southeast Region
- Managing Director, Workplace Options Center for Organizational Effectiveness
- Speaker: Triangle CHRO Association, People Analytics Summit, Raleigh Metro SHRM
Donald Thompson developed the Employee Engagement Growth Model through collaboration with senior leaders, executive coaches, PhDs, and organizational consultants across industries. It is the foundation of The Employee Engagement Handbook and of his advisory and speaking work.
Meet DonaldTrusted by Leaders Who Have Seen It Work
"Most leaders know their culture has a problem. The EEGM gave us the language and the structure to actually do something about it. Donald Thompson does not just diagnose the gap, he gives you a system you can run. That is what separates this from every other engagement conversation I have had."
Greg Boone
CEO, Walk West
"What the EEGM does that most frameworks do not is connect leadership behavior directly to what employees actually need. It is not theory. It is a system. And when you follow it, the outcomes are measurable."
Josh Haymond
Managing Partner,
VACO Raleigh
The Employee Engagement Handbook
A Leader's Guide to People, Purpose, and Performance
Technology, capital, and strategy matter. But sustainable performance ultimately depends on whether people are motivated, capable, and committed enough to execute. The Employee Engagement Handbook is built around the Employee Engagement Growth Model.
Get the HandbookMove From Engagement Scores to Execution.
The Executive Brief puts the business case for employee engagement, the Employee Engagement Growth Model, and five questions for the executive team in one short document.
Download the Executive Brief