It's well established that employee engagement is critical to the success of an organization. There has been a great deal of discussion and research about the value of the engaged employee, but getting employees there is often a challenge. In late 2013, Gallup released a study showing engagement levels worldwide, and the picture the polling organization painted was dismal. In North America, less than half of employees responded that they were actively engaged, and more than half said they were not engaged at all. So what are the main factors contributing to this lack of engagement? For one, the current means of communication usually used in office spaces—email, newsletters, intranet—cannot reach every employee in an organization. Also, information usually flows in a top-down manner, with directives and instruction coming from upper management. Instead, employees should be encouraged to engage with their peers and superiors to share ideas and enthusiasm. If companies want to increase competitiveness and boost performance in a meaningful way, they should first look at the way team members communicate with one another.