According to a Gallup poll, Alabama takes the lead as the state with the highest percentage of employee engagement, with 37 percent of workers in the state as “decidedly engaged in the workplace,” followed by Delaware, Kentucky and Louisiana at 36 percent. Workers surveyed in the poll are classified as engaged, not engaged, or actively disengaged based on responses to questions meant to assess important workplace foundations necessary for positive business outcomes. The poll shows that states with highest active disengagement percentages are West Virginia (21 percent), Nevada (19 percent), New Mexico (19 percent), New York (19 percent), and Pennsylvania (19 percent).

What impacts employee engagement? According to Gallup, it’s company size, employee role, management and economic circumstance. Highly engaged states also have large proportions of employees that are self-employed, high school graduates and positioned in “blue collar” roles in steady industries.