By Dominic Ashley-Timms and Laura Ashley-Timms
Job hugging’ is on the rise as high retention becomes a red flag and silent productivity killer – but what if ‘The Great Disengaged’ aren’t a lost cause, but actually an exciting opportunity? Here’s how the best route to reigniting engagement is through your managers…
The world of work is not a motivating place right now. Gallup’s latest State of the Workplace report shows that global employee engagement, already at a low 23% level, fell even further last year to just 21%, with this lost productivity costing the economy $438bn.
Alongside this, there is a rise in ‘job hugging’ – the trend in which workers remain in a job longer than they normally would for security or comfort. Recruitment site Monster found that 48% of workers are staying in their roles longer than they otherwise might, with 75% expecting to remain in the same job for at least two more years. While this sounds great on paper – no need for costly recruitment processes – high retention in 2026 may actually be a red flag. This shift towards job-hugging can be a silent productivity killer, putting organisations at risk of a culture of complacency and staff disengagement due to a lack of motivation.
But what if ‘The Great Disengaged’ aren’t a lost cause, but actually an exciting opportunity? If your business is retaining employees longer, this could be an opportunity to think more long-term and develop your existing staff. This eliminates the need to chase costly and scarce external talent, which averages £6,125 per vacancy (rising to £19,000 for a managerial role). And the most effective way to reignite engagement? Look to your managers.
Why are employees job-hugging?
The increase in job-hugging is a direct result of workers seeking greater stability and security. Against the backdrop of an uncertain global economy, shrinking budgets and the rise of AI, which is leading to job cuts, people are keen to stay somewhere they feel safe, rather than risk a move into the unknown.
94% of employees staying put do, however, recognise the potential downsides of such a move (cited as burnout from lack of change, limited career advancement and missing out on higher pay), with 27% of people who job-hug saying they feel less satisfied and ‘stuck’.
This results in a situation where much of an organisation’s talent is physically present but mentally checked out, no longer fully engaged or motivated. In the face of this apathy, managers risk creating a culture of micromanagement, defaulting to a ‘command-and-control’ style of telling their team what to do.
This approach of holding managers accountable for decision-making and problem-solving can actually worsen disengagement. When a manager constantly directs, employees are deprived of the opportunity to think for themselves, engage appropriately with tasks, and develop independence within their roles, ultimately leading to even greater demotivation.
As well as being harmful to employees, this style is also unhelpful for managers. Being relied upon by the team for everything can also quickly lead to overwhelm and disengagement in managers themselves – in fact, the Gallup report showed that manager engagement dropped to just 27% in 2024. Continually stepping in to solve other people’s problems means they have less time to focus on the higher-value aspects of their role, which affects their growth and advancement prospects and, in turn, organisational performance. The result is a vicious cycle of disengagement breeding further disengagement.
Shifting to an enquiry-led style of management
A powerful way to turn this around at both the employee and manager level is by adopting an enquiry-led approach to management, such as Operational Coaching®. Asking powerful questions is a superpower – one that’s under-utilised mainly because managers have never been taught how to use it. It requires managers to let go of the idea that they must hold all the answers and provide constant direction, and instead ask questions that stimulate the other person’s thinking to find solutions.
Managers who have developed an Operational Coaching® style of managemrt have learned to apply the STAR® model:
- STOP: When an employee comes to a manager with a problem, the manager must learn to stop, take a step back, and overcome their natural inclination to step in and solve the problem for them.
- THINK: This gives the manager the space to think about whether the situation an employee has presented offers a coachable moment.
- ASK: Mastering the art of asking powerful, thought-provoking questions and then actively listening to employees allows managers to ditch the ‘fix and solve’ response, and instead presents the employee with a learning opportunity to become independent, solution-driven problem solvers.
- RESULT: The manager works with the employee to secure a commitment to a result from this coachable moment, so they act on their ideas. A manager may need to ask a few more questions to agree on the appropriate follow-up, increasing the likelihood that action will be taken and providing a future opportunity to give appropriate appreciative feedback.
By incorporating the coaching-related behaviours of situational awareness, active listening and purposeful enquiry into their everyday management style, managers quickly become alert to the potential of situations where asking team members questions that invite them to think for themselves drives better outcomes.
Once managers start applying this model, they move away from being ‘fixers’ and instead empower their teams to take accountability. This provides employees with a wealth of skills development opportunities, helps them prioritise their tasks more efficiently, and builds their confidence in decision-making, fostering a deeper sense of purpose in their work. This leads to an increase in engagement because it provides the autonomy and trust that modern (and especially younger) workers demand. It also reduces manager disengagement by allowing them to delegate tasks to enabled team members.
The power of purposeful questions
The impact of Operational Coaching® isn’t just anecdotal. In a randomised controlled trial conducted by the London School of Economics, the statistically significant results showed that managers adopting this style increased their coaching time by 70% and generated an average 74x return on investment per manager. Almost half (48%) of the reported successes were related to increased engagement and productivity.
By adopting this proven approach to management, businesses can create an impactful employee growth funnel that boosts engagement across all staffing levels. This will deliver powerful operational and financial benefits, ensuring that staff are staying with their jobs for all the right reasons.
Dominic Ashley-Timms
