The State of UK Employee Engagement
Q2 2026 Benchmarks
Gain absolute confidence in your people strategy. Discover how your organisation compares to real-time benchmarks across the UK workforce.
Executive Summary & Key Takeaways
Employee engagement has recovered.
The leaders are changing.
Employee sentiment has stabilised this quarter, with Engagement Index holding at 7.2 and eNPS at +12. While both measures dipped slightly compared with Q1, they’re still ahead of where they were at the end of 2025, suggesting organisations have largely steadied the ship.
The bigger story this quarter is the difference between engagement and advocacy. Engagement Index remained relatively stable across most industries, but employee advocacy shifted much more noticeably, reinforcing why organisations need to measure both metrics rather than relying on engagement scores alone.
Technology continued to record the highest Engagement Index, Housing Associations remained one of the strongest all-round performers, while Government continued to face the biggest challenge on employee advocacy. Together, the results suggest that high-performing employee experiences are becoming less concentrated in a small number of sectors.
Employee sentiment has stabilised this quarter, with Engagement Index holding at 7.2 and eNPS at +12. While both measures dipped slightly compared with Q1, they’re still ahead of where they were at the end of 2025, suggesting organisations have largely steadied the ship.
The bigger story this quarter is the difference between engagement and advocacy. Engagement Index remained relatively stable across most industries, but employee advocacy shifted much more noticeably, reinforcing why organisations need to measure both metrics rather than relying on engagement scores alone.
Technology continued to record the highest Engagement Index, Housing Associations remained one of the strongest all-round performers, while Government continued to face the biggest challenge on employee advocacy. Together, the results suggest that high-performing employee experiences are becoming less concentrated in a small number of sectors.
Hi, I’m Jen, and these are the latest employee engagement benchmarks.
Before I get into it, one small but important thing. This is a snapshot of the organisations that surveyed with us this quarter, not the same group tracked over time. So I treat it as a read on where the market sits right now, rather than proof that anything’s gone up or down.
That distinction matters more than it sounds like it should, but it’s actually where this benchmark is most useful. If you surveyed this quarter as well, you’re looking at results against the same window, the same market conditions, the same point in the year. So it’s a genuine like-for-like comparison, rather than measuring yourself against a mix of organisations from months ago. That’s the version of benchmarking I trust most.
With that said, the picture this quarter is a fairly steady one. Engagement is holding up well across the benchmark, which after the wobble we saw at the end of last year is really reassuring.
But the thing I’d actually keep an eye on isn’t engagement on the whole — it’s advocacy. Across a lot of the organisations in this quarter’s data, we’re seeing eNPS soften while engagement stays firm. And when those two start to pull apart in the same group, that’s often the earliest sign that people’s expectations are shifting, and it’s usually before the headline number catches up.
The other pattern worth naming is a simple one. The organisations pulling ahead aren’t the ones collecting the most feedback — they are the ones doing something visible with it.
So as we head into the second half of the year, my advice is genuinely that straightforward. Keep listening, keep communicating, and most importantly, keep acting.
Let’s get into the numbers.
What stood out to me this quarter:
Engagement has steadied
Overall Engagement Index sits at 7.2, slightly below Q1 (7.4) but well above the Q4 2025 low of 6.7. Rather than continuing to decline, engagement has settled into a more consistent pattern.
eNPS is becoming the metric to watch
Several industries have maintained healthy engagement while employee advocacy has declined. It’s a reminder that Engagement Index and eNPS tell different stories—and both deserve attention.
Competition between industries is increasing
Technology continues to record the highest Engagement Index, but sectors including Housing Associations, Professional Services, Health and Construction are all performing close to the overall benchmark, creating a more competitive picture this quarter.
Government continues to face the biggest challenge
Government remained the sector to watch this quarter. Engagement Index slipped from 6.6 to 6.4 across Q2, while eNPS declined from -10 to -17, highlighting a continued challenge in improving employee advocacy.
Industries to watch this quarter?
These industries tell the story of this quarter’s benchmark. Some are leading the way, some are building momentum, and others highlight where organisations continue to face challenges. Here’s a snapshot of the stories behind the scores.
What we're seeing across the market
Across the benchmarks, the organisations making the greatest progress are those creating visible action from survey results, equipping managers to respond confidently and communicating clearly about what’s changing as a result of employee feedback.
As employee engagement stabilises across the market, action is becoming the biggest differentiator.
Put your results into context
Numbers only tell part of the story.
Compare your latest employee engagement results against Hive’s newest benchmark data, helping you understand where you’re leading, where you have opportunities to improve, and what to focus on next.
Why you can trust our data
Our benchmark data is built from hundreds of thousands of employee responses across organisations of different sizes and industries.
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Industries Covered
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Precision
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Looking ahead by Jen,
Head of Professional Services at Hive
“While this quarter’s data suggests employee sentiment has stabilised, HR leaders shouldn’t mistake stability for certainty.
Over the coming months, I’d be paying close attention to employee advocacy. Engagement has remained resilient, but in several industries we’re starting to see a mild decline in eNPS before Engagement Index changes. That’s often one of the earliest signs that employee expectations are shifting.
I’d also encourage organisations to focus on what happens after the survey. The strongest-performing organisations aren’t necessarily collecting more feedback—they’re responding to it more consistently. Equipping managers to have better conversations, communicating progress regularly and showing employees that their feedback leads to change will continue to be the biggest differentiators.
As we move into the second half of the year, my advice is simple: keep listening, keep communicating and, most importantly, keep acting.”
“While this quarter’s data suggests employee sentiment has stabilised, HR leaders shouldn’t mistake stability for certainty.
Over the coming months, I’d be paying close attention to employee advocacy. Engagement has remained resilient, but in several industries we’re starting to see a mild decline in eNPS before Engagement Index changes. That’s often one of the earliest signs that employee expectations are shifting.
I’d also encourage organisations to focus on what happens after the survey. The strongest-performing organisations aren’t necessarily collecting more feedback—they’re responding to it more consistently. Equipping managers to have better conversations, communicating progress regularly and showing employees that their feedback leads to change will continue to be the biggest differentiators.
As we move into the second half of the year, my advice is simple: keep listening, keep communicating and, most importantly, keep acting.”
Ready to move the needle on your scores?
Benchmarking is the diagnostic; Hive is the cure. Finding out where you stand is just step one. True cultural transformation happens when you can listen to your people and act on their feedback in real-time.
Let’s talk about how Hive’s employee feedback platform can help you close the gap between your current scores and your industry’s top 10%.
