Is the Employee Engagement Era Over? With Gianna Driver

In this thought-provoking episode of the Cohesion Podcast, Miriam Connaughton (Chief People Officer at Simpplr) sits down with Gianna Driver, Chief People Officer at Lattice. A serial CPO with deep experience in the tech sector, Gianna brings a fresh perspective to one of HR’s most persistent questions: how should we really be measuring employee experience and performance?

With engagement scores stagnating for decades and workforces becoming more distributed and diverse, Gianna challenges conventional wisdom on employee engagement—and explores what might come next. Drawing on data, lived experience, and her people-first philosophy, she shares what she believes leaders should be measuring, and why metrics alone can fail to capture belonging, mental health, and true organizational health.

From rethinking engagement surveys to navigating the risks and opportunities of AI in the workplace, this episode is packed with strategic insights and human nuance.

If you’re reimagining how to support and measure your people in a hybrid, high-change world, this conversation is for you.

Topics Covered:

• Why employee engagement scores have flatlined for 20 years
• What HR teams might measure instead of—or in addition to—engagement
• How hybrid and remote work reshape connection and culture
• The generational shifts redefining what employees value most
• Insights from the disengaged: what outliers can tell us
• Balancing AI, analytics, and human empathy in employee experience
• Moving from individual-level fixes to systemic, structural solutions

Connect with Gianna Driver: LinkedIn

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