Why Care About Employee Engagement in a Challenging Environment
The Coronavirus has accelerated one of the biggest business transformations in decades. In a recent pulse study of over 30 organizations and data from a new study by Willis Towers Watson, businesses are bending over backwards to take care of their employees.
The world is different today. COVID-19 has swept across our world and nation. Uncertainty is at an all-time high, as we experience a complete disruption in our homes and workplaces. There’s no quick fix. There’s no silver bullet. The best thing we as leaders can do is lean in — listen to your employees, empathize with their greatest concerns, communicate frequently and confidently, and be flexible and supportive to meet their needs.
Josh Bersin, an expert on corporate talent, Learning and HR technology, stated that employee engagement is a problem that plagues more than two-thirds of companies year after year.
“The crisis has created a level of transparency and trust in our workforce we haven’t seen in decades.”
— CHRO, one of the world’s largest insurance companies
The Willis research found that 90% of companies believe their culture has improved, 83% believe their employee experience is better, and 84% believe employee engagement has gone up.
The Challenge
Companies are protecting workers. The #1 thing on the minds of most employees today is personal financial security. Yes, they’re worried about their health, but above that, they’re worried about their jobs, the viability of the company, and their ability to take care of their families. And for Millennials and younger workers, they are now worried about their careers.
There is a huge increased focus on personal productivity, wellbeing, and personal resilience. As more than 90% of companies started their work at home program, the first issue they dealt with was getting computers, internet access, security, and tools into people’s homes.
Business and HR leaders are spending more and more time ensuring that their employees feel safe, supported, and emotionally secure — otherwise, they simply cannot do their jobs. Organizations need engaged employees more than ever to get through this challenging period. While remuneration is always a good incentive, it isn’t the be-all and end-all for driving employee engagement.
The Solution: 6 Ways to Drive Engagement
1. Make Transparency the Backbone
Your employees might feel uncertain about the ongoing situation — 55% of employees are concerned about job security. Only about 1/3 believe that their organization “has the resilience to handle these circumstances.”
Keeping people in the loop is an incredibly effective way to drive employee engagement. Be transparent with your employees about your plans and activities. Try to be positive in your communication but don’t over-promise. And even when things aren’t going well, don’t keep employees in the dark — feeling side-lined is a sure-fire way to allow distrust to take root.
If employees don’t understand where the company is standing financially in times of crisis, it makes them feel insecure, unmotivated and even disengaged.
2. Focus On Your Core Values
During a crisis, don’t forget about your core values and your company culture. Let your core values serve as a guide for you. These are the heart of your company after all, and now more than ever they are what you should be striving to uphold.
Your core values will likely be what attracted employees to you in the first place, so show them that you’re focused on upholding your values — promote them to your employees and remind them of what you stand for.
3. Make Room for Continuous Feedback
Employees need to receive constructive feedback to be productive, especially in challenging circumstances such as fast transitions to working from home. Be sure to have a structure in place to provide this feedback — through regular virtual 1-on-1 meetings and facilitating open conversations within and across teams.
However, be ready to receive feedback as well — because feedback should always be a two-way street. Use simple tools like surveys and questionnaires to gather insight:
- Ask questions on a sliding scale between 1-5
- Ask open-ended questions so they can be thorough in their reply
- Ask multiple-choice questions so they don’t feel the onus is on them to provide answers
4. Celebrate Small Victories
Your employees are doing their best and especially in times of uncertainty, it is important to recognize it. Celebrate small victories to drive engagement — announce new deals made, organic traffic exceeding expectations, work done quickly and efficiently.
Consider rewarding your top performers with small prizes: a day off, a paid meal delivered to their doorstep, whatever makes sense for your organization. Don’t just celebrate within teams — praise employees across the board. Encourage your employees to praise and acknowledge one another.
Recognition of small wins and efforts goes a long way in driving employee engagement — in a regular setting and in challenging times.
5. Focus on Everyday Experiences
Understand that the majority of employees put considerable effort into maintaining a work-life balance at the best of times. During challenging periods, when everything is confusing, doing what you can to reduce stress will boost engagement.
Find out what your employees are struggling with daily and seek to provide solutions. Make sure that engagement efforts are continuous, not one-off attempts. Don’t forget to focus on inclusion — employees working under inclusive leaders are 39% more likely to be engaged.
6. Enable Teamwork and Collaboration
Having the right tools is one thing. Having a culture of collaboration is another. Foster teamwork even under challenging circumstances. Encourage regular team check-ins — daily stand-ups in the virtual environment to stay aware of what everyone is working on.
Make sure you have the right tools in place: