While the world was waiting out the Great Recession, managers and executives in the United States were gunning their engines. More than one-third (36%) of them were engaged in their jobs in 2012, up 10 percentage points from 2009. There’s no one right way to engage everyone—no one-size-fits-all approach.

It may be that executives and managers felt motivated and empowered by the challenges of leading and were ready to burn rubber when the economic turmoil settled down. Or maybe they just have more job security than those they lead.

Whatever the case, this example proves a point that extensive Gallup research has been showing for years: The type of occupation employees hold or the industry they’re in relate to engagement when studied at an aggregate level. Also, employee engagement can vary substantially from company to company, and from work group to work group.

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