“How many of your teams are fully engaged and happy at work every day?” It’s a powerful question—and one that Gaëlle Watson, learning impact consultant, facilitator and coach at SyncSkills Performance, believes every leader should be asking. As she put it, “What can be measured, can be fixed? How are you measuring your teams’ engagement?”
At ChannelCon EMEA 2026, Watson shared research from Gallup that paints a stark global picture: Only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. “They’re the ones who show up, who are happy to be there, who care about your customers,” she said.
But then comes the kicker: 27% are actively disengaged, which Watson described as “your toxic people, the ones who bring negativity into the workplace.” The remaining 62% fall into the middle ground—neither fully committed nor completely detached. In Europe, the data is even more concerning, with just one in 10 employees who are actively engaged.
For ITSPs operating lean teams and high-pressure service delivery models, that level of disengagement translates directly into higher absenteeism, turnover, recruitment costs and poor client outcomes.
“You’ve got stories of managers having burnout, people struggling to engage with their teams, and it’s detrimental for the organization,” said Watson.
What Employees Really Want
What drives engagement today? Watson pointed to three consistent themes across research and industries:
- Meaning and purpose
- Development and support to grow
- Flexibility at work
And for ITSP leaders, she emphasized that “it’s all part of your talent strategy, and something that definitely needs to be looked at.”
Watson was also quick to challenge a common misconception in the learning world: That development means more content. “Learning is not about packing people with information,” she explained. “It is about changing behaviors.”
That’s a shift for ITSPs who often rely on technical training as their main form of staff development. In Watson’s view, real transformation only happens when individuals want to change. “Before we change behavior, there is one thing that needs to be done, and it’s having the person wanting to change behavior. If a person doesn’t want to change, they will not change.”
Using AI to Power Personalize Development
While much of the industry buzzes about AI’s impact on service automation, Watson offered a fresh perspective on how AI can support people, not replace them. “What AI can really do, is get you set up as only the top corporates used to be able to do. You can start building a skill and competence map for your key roles with ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or whichever tool you use,” she said.
For ITSPs, that means identifying what core competencies matter most—both technical and interpersonal. Watson explained that “soft skills are now called core skills.” Communication, collaboration and client engagement are just as essential as certifications or coding knowledge.
By mapping the skills your team already has against what the business needs, AI can help pinpoint gaps, personalize development plans and track measurable progress.
However, Watson cautioned that “people have to trust that you’ve got the best intention at heart—that the idea is to grow them, not to sack them.”
The Power of Microbehaviors
Watson illustrated this human-centered approach through a real case study: A multinational company managing fully remote teams across time zones and cultures. Managers were burning out because of poor communication and misaligned expectations.
The solution? Not a generic leadership course but a behavioral framework built around “microbehaviors”—which Watson prefers to call essential habits. “To build a strong feedback culture you start with something small, like asking follow-up questions before giving solutions. It’s not personal, it’s practical,” she said.
Those microbehaviors were then built into a 360-feedback system that helped each manager identify their strengths and specific areas for growth. Instead of sending someone on a week-long course, the company could send them to two one-day workshops focused on their actual needs, creating engagement, efficiency and ownership of development.
Watson argued that lasting change comes through practice and feedback, not passive learning. “It’s not about having more content and information—it’s about doing and having feedback and adapting.”
AI tools can now simulate realistic workplace scenario; from client meetings to difficult performance conversations, staff can practice in safe, personalized environments. As Watson noted, “Before AI, creating five learning scenarios could take weeks. Now we can do that in an hour.”
But even the smartest AI tool can’t hold people accountable. “If you want people to change,” Watson reminded the audience, “they need to be held accountable by their managers, mentors and colleagues—not by ChatGPT or Bard.”
A Human-Centered Future
For ITSP leaders, the takeaway is clear: Technology is only as powerful as the human systems it supports. Engagement starts with data, but it’s sustained through trust, meaning and development. As Watson concluded, “Using AI needs to fit into growing your business and helping the right people support you in the best possible way.”
Before you invest in another tool or training program, ask the questions Watson began with:
- How engaged are your teams?
- How are you measuring that engagement?
- And are you building a culture where people want to change and grow?
Because, as she reminded us, “What can be measured, can be fixed.”
ChannelCon EMEA │ 9-10 November │ London │ Register Now
