The Year That Was : A Snapshot Of 2020 Through The Lens Of Employee Engagement

2020 was a year of ups and downs. Surely more downs than ups…
At AceNgage too it was a difficult year, our volumes dropped and revenues were impacted. While we saw our usual work schedules disrupted by Covid induced lockdowns and the associated disruptions in work and home lives, from September we also saw an increase in some other areas of our portfolio
Specifically speaking we saw an increase in the number of enquiries coming in for conducting Employee engagement surveys. It appeared that Organization leaders now wanted to have a good understanding of how engaged their employees were and how they were coping with the new normal.
By the end of 2020 we had surveyed close to 8,000 employees across industries. Interestingly most were from the Manufacturing sector – showing us that however long we may have been in the industry, we always learn something new with each event and every new day!
We decided to put together some insights that we believe are both telling as well as relevant to the ‘state of play’ as we head into a new year. We believe that 2020 taught us a great deal. It would be a pity if we allowed a good crisis to go to waste. So here are some of the major trends we have seen during our surveys. We hope these insights help inform HR Planners as they step into 2021.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSES

Leadership teams worked overtime to ensure that they communicated (sometimes even over-communicated) with care and empathy through the course of the intense disruptions caused by the pandemic. Survey respondents have given a thumbs-up in this area. We believe that as we step into the new year, Leadership teams should continue to display the same level of care, empathy and ‘walking the talk’ when it comes to employee engagement and well being.
Less than half the respondents felt that Manager connect was adequate. While we know that Managers have been the key cohort that has ensured that work continues as usual through team meetings, huddles, virtual events and other online methods, the ‘connect’ that people felt was lacking. We feel that Managers need to connect more with their employees in the following manner, in 2021:

• More one to one connects as opposed to group chats and calls
• Managers need to create a sense of empathy when dealing with the unique home/work life challenges of their staff members
• Any others….

AceNgage’s advice :Leaders have a role to play in this initiative. They must hand-hold managers (especially the newer ones) on dealing with their staff in a way that displays empathy, authenticity and a sense of reassurance. Because no one knows for sure yet how 2021 will pan out. It is important to keep all stakeholders actively engaged.

TALENT DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING

Appraisals and career development conversations have taken a backseat with more than 8 out of 10 people surveyed stating the lack of career progression conversations. While this gap may be attributable to the overall slow-down in the economy as well as a sense of caution because of the uncertainty around Covid 19 related disruptions, we believe that career development conversations help employees understand their place in the big picture. These conversations must continue since they are an important part of the employee experience.
L&D opportunities have also dropped. This is perhaps a fallout of less career progression discussions and appraisals taking place in companies. However, AceNgage strongly recommends that companies continue to explore career development and learning opportunities so as to be ready, willing and able to face the new challenges that 2021 (and beyond) will have to offer. McKinsey, in an article titled To emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis, companies should start reskilling their workforces now (http://mck.co/38tt4dM) believes that “building your reskilling muscle now is the first step to ensuring that your organization’s recovery business model is a success”. They also list out 6 steps that organisations can implement to ensure that their employees are ready for the New Normal.

Long Hours

Work life balance has certainly taken a hit with the continuous blurring of the line between home and workplaces. Commutes have been eliminated and with it, the rituals that would enable professionals to ‘unplug’ from work and ‘head home’. These actions were taken for granted prior to the pandemic. However, these are now sorely missed. We are seeing that the novelty of ‘Working from home’ is slowly, but steadily wearing off.
AceNgage also feels that activities like coffee breaks with colleagues, lunch get-togethers or even that walk around the office block to ‘vent’ about a bad day with a trusted co-worker. The absence of these simple actions at work would also contribute to a feeling of a lack of community. Humans are social beings and these prolonged breaks from social interaction has taken a toll. Virtual meetings can alleviate this pain somewhat, but let’s face it…there’s nothing like holding a warm cup of coffee or tea in your hand and discussing work with a coworker while on a short break. A break from work is what people crave now.
Companies can shore up motivation levels to ensure that work and life are integrated in a more balanced manner. This may require companies to even ‘legislate’ rules that require employees to switch off after a particular time. We believe that Managers play a very important part in driving the team’s culture towards work life balance. Companies must look at driving better work life integration practices through their rank and file through their managers.

REWARD AND RECOGNITION

R&R Programs have a big role to play in celebrating success and bringing teams closer. It provides a sense of “all that hard work was worth it” to staff. Facing colleagues while accepting the award, seeing warm smiles and being recognised in public for work well done added a strong booster dose of motivation for the next ‘sprint’
However, with these events happening virtually, the level of engagement with these events have come down – probably due to a lack of personal contact and a sense of artificiality…there are no handshakes, no physical contact of team members posing for photos and no get togethers and team coffees to celebrate the win. This has created a void in the minds and hearts of employees. We now wonder – while the new ‘virtual meetings’ have garnered massive amounts of participation, how engaged are the employees about actually being on the call? It’s something worth pondering over.
We are also acutely aware that the new normal and the resultant economic uncertainty have possibly made R&R a ‘nice to have’. However, the value of R&R cannot be understated as a means of creating engagement and promoting the company’s values, cultures and practices to a wider audience. We therefore recommend a ‘best of both worlds’ approach.

Where we can help:
We know that no two companies are alike and a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not work. We can help companies understand the specific interventions that are needed for their unique requirements. Our Surveys can help you quickly identify the areas where you can step in to make things better – right down to a team level. What makes our surveys particularly powerful is that it ensures a consistent questioning pattern across the survey audience that allows our clients to get the best value for their investment. What’s more, these surveys help our clients get ‘on the spot’ feedback because they need not wait for the annual surveys to kick in.