Tyler Dean Kempf

Key Takeaways: New Perceptyx and Second City Works research finds that employees who experience all five improv principles report dramatically different change resilience: an 82.6% favorable rating on senior leadership's ability to navigate change against 37.3% for the remainder, a 45.3-point gap. Three observable behavioral mechanisms drive the difference. Humor functions as a resilience tool (100% favorable in the improv group vs. 71.4% overall).

Why Has Employee Engagement Plateaued for Most Organizations? HR teams have invested for a decade in surveys, recognition platforms, manager training, and perks built around engagement. The curve has flattened across the Perceptyx benchmark and our State of Employee Listening research, and the headline number from our latest 3,901-person panel sits at 75.5% favorable on overall engagement, roughly where the broader market has hovered for several years.

How to lead humans in the age of AI Disruption has become our new workplace reality. For managers, navigating change is an everyday responsibility, not an occasional responsibility. Gallup reports that 72% of employees recently experienced workplace disruptions, and nearly a third of leaders experienced extensive disruptions. Today, no disruption is as prevalent as the rise of artificial intelligence.