New Employee Engagement Research: How the Pandemic Impacted Employees (and What to Do About It)

By: Christina Zurek
happy employees interacting with each other in a meeting
Overall, employee engagement has improved significantly despite the pandemic. Yes, you read that right.
 
The improvement is a testament to organizations prioritizing employee experience and their wellbeing. But it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in the clear. Many employees still think the grass might be greener elsewhere.
 
In our latest research, we updated our landmark study from 2018 by surveying workers on how they’re feeling and what they need from employers to stick around.
 
Based on the research, we identified three focus areas for organizations. Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll learn more about in the full report.
 

1. Focus Area #1: Enrich Culture by Improving Appeal & Authenticity of Mission & Values

Employees spoke loudly when they said an organization’s mission and values matter, but the authenticity of those messages is what they value most. The report shares our recommendations for improving those messages to create more satisfied, loyal employee advocates.
chart illustrating the importance of mission and values to employee engagement
Related: How you communicate organizational values and mission improves employee engagement. Read more about effective internal communications.
 

2. Focus Area #2: Embrace Tenure-Driven Engagement Slumps to Circumvent the Consequences 

Oh, the dreaded slumps. All HR folks know they happen, but slumps can be overcome. We told you about the “Reality Slump” back in 2018 and this year a new slump emerged. The report identifies the root causes of each slump type and how to mitigate the risk of your people encountering them in the first place. 
chart comparing psychological benefits to employee engagement
Related: Check out our webcast to learn how to overcome the “Reality Slump.”
 

3. Focus Area #3: Keep Enhancing Current Engagement Initiatives—They Matter

The research showed overwhelming evidence that the work to improve engagement initiatives in recent years is working. Even better? When employees are more satisfied with engagement initiatives, they are also 22% to 30% happier with their organization overall. Our report shares more data to help you validate the continued investment in employee initiatives and our proven tips for boosting long-term initiative effectiveness.
chart showing amount of highly satisfied employees
The focus areas are only the start. Download the full employee experience report to gain insight into how employees are feeling and tactical recommendations to inform your own engagement and retention strategies.
Christina Zurek
Christina Zurek

Christina is an experienced leader with a passion for improving the employee experience, employee engagement and workplace culture. Few things excite her as much as an opportunity to try something unfamiliar (be that a project, development opportunity, travel destination, food, drink or otherwise), though digging in to a research project is a close second.