Many companies think surveys are the same or better, but surveys just give you data. Discover how COVID-19 is impacting your employees. This is truly a case where fewer, focused questions give you more than asking every question in the book.’, Leader accessibility. Gallup defines engaged employees as those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace. Please purchase a SHRM membership before saving bookmarks. Job satisfaction, productivity and retention can all be affected by an employee’s level of engagement. “Some may worry, especially in times like this, about asking for feedback and coming off as out of touch or insensitive,” she continues, “but since our continuous feedback model is a part of our culture, it works well in good times and in challenging times.”, ‘Don’t ask every question under the sun. Stay interviews are one of the best tools for measuring employee engagement. Managers are coached to ask employees, “What can I do to help? Encourage and Host Virtual Social Time. Close. "We've used a number of different tools over the years, some of which were 50 to 70 questions long, which got a little fatiguing," Voigt says. The result? The HR team expanded the use of individual stay interviews to all employees to learn the employees’ greatest needs and build individualized stay plans. Kathryn Tyler is a freelance writer and former HR generalist and trainer in Wixom, Mich. You have successfully saved this page as a bookmark. Members may download one copy of our sample forms and templates for your personal use within your organization. Be there to listen and make sure they have access to the information and resources they need. Apply for the SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP exam today! 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Employee engagement. Keeping employees engaged during Covid-19 requires two things: connection and recognition. Pulse surveys. } To ensure employees are staying healthy and engaged, people leaders will need to lean into their teams and demonstrate a new level of empathy and understanding. Try to be positive in your communication but don’t over-promise. With employees often taking the role of caregiver, teacher and parent, all while working - … }); if($('.container-footer').length > 1){ To request permission for specific items, click on the “reuse permissions” button on the page where you find the item. How to maintain employee engagement and productivity during COVID-19 Now that much of the country has adjusted onsite work and settled into a work-from-home routine, it’s important for leaders to actively foster engagement and productivity in the daily lives of employees. According to an August 2020 survey of 1,500 employees by FlexJobs and Mental Health America, 75% say they are experiencing burnout brought on by the pandemic. Your employees are looking for support to help them through this crisis. Regularly scheduled employee engagement surveys are mainstays for measuring employee sentiments, but most HR professionals gather employee feedback in a variety of ways. Your employees are looking for support to help them through this crisis. Furthermore, not only does recognition improve employee engagement, it also strengthens manager-to-peer relationships, peer-to-peer relationships, and understanding of an organization’s core values. Vote. Be clear with employees about work expectations and performance. To help reassure employees that they are valued members of a strong organization that will get through the crisis, it’s advisable to run a variety of challenges that incentivize participation. Facebook. The responses were uploaded to a SharePoint site, along with the managers’ summaries and recommended actions. Plante Moran also holds town halls and small-group staff meetings. We love the poignant words of Dana Ullom-Vucelich, “At the very core of our humanity is our care for one another. A supportive work culture is … Leadership must set the tone for the workforce, and this starts with genuine engagement, as well as open and honest conversations every step of the way. Here are the 5 ways. But when we think about how much time we spend running ads and interviewing to replace an employee who leaves, it’s a no-brainer for us.”. That’s why so many organizations have made employee engagement a priority. Be honest and open so there aren’t surprises. To ensure they feel confident and well-equipped to communicate the most critical information to your employees, you’ll need to provide the right resources. Each company is unique, so how people prefer to provide and gather feedback should be centered around what’s conducive for the business. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to change how they work and support employees, but implementing some of these strategies can help you make employees feel secure and valued despite these changes. 5 Ways to Engage Remote Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Yeah, I know. Don't assume a low-scoring area is important to employees. Internal social media platforms. if(currentUrl.indexOf("/about-shrm/pages/shrm-china.aspx") > -1) { View key toolkits, policies, research and more on HR topics that matter to you. “At one point, we were using SurveyMonkey and conducting our survey in-house,” says Jenny Voigt, SHRM-CP, senior HR generalist at the credit union. COVID-19 … Then, consider the timing. The last thing you want to do is feed into the panic. In this ever-evolving state of uncertainty, it’s a daunting task for anyone to keep up. Keep the fun alive. WorkBuzz is offering all organisations free access to its coronavirus pulse survey to track employee wellbeing The conversation afforded us the ability to probe their specific interests and provide additional training to prepare them for the next steps. The effect on employee engagement during COVID-19; ... [Guide] Managing Employee Emotions During the COVID-19 Pandemic >>> ... ideas, opinions, etc. Some questions you may want to ask: Using Tom Hanks and the film Cast Away as a metaphor for the mass migration over to working remotely is a bit twisted considering he and his wife, Rita Wilson, are among those who contracted the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Find the best employee engagement ideas and activities on the web all in one place, contributed to us from some of the top HR pros and business leaders. ​As an essential business, United Facilities has remained open during the coronavirus pandemic. Consider building a crisis management team or task force to help you determine the next steps and delegate responsibilities. Getting team members to open up in engagement team building activities can be as tough and awkward as navigating a minefield!. “For others, our internal social media platform provides a 24/7 option to share ideas and suggestions. Try to keep things as normal as possible to provide some stability. After United Facilities’ HR team was asked to help slow the constant turnover among forklift drivers, Bliss decided stay interviews might be part of the solution. "Nothing kills engagement like asking for an opinion and then not acknowledging the response with action.". —Rahm Emanuel . Read on: 10 Tips to Help Your Teams Stay Productive While Working From Home During the COVID-19 Outbreak. All, I'm trying to use the slow winter season/covid era to encourage cohesion, improve retention and boost morale. Need help with a specific HR issue like coronavirus or FLSA? Remote working isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Keep recurring meetings and one-on-ones, and encourage employees to maintain their regular routine. Contact us about it … Cappelli says focus groups are good for gathering data on complex questions, such as whether to implement a wellness plan. The COVID-19 pandemic doesn't just affect employees' feelings. Lean on your peers for support, advice, and questions. You can’t lose your top performers. Business Gifts Budget. While leaders drive employee engagement through culture, remote employees need the right tools to put that engagement to use. Provide Extra Support. With the COVID-19 crisis, there’s a sudden bright light on the importance of internal communications, and leaders of this function should take this opportunity to highlight the vital role that employee communications plays in supporting the long-term health of the business. It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers—these are unprecedented times, so we’re all working to find a solution together. We addressed all of those issues and concerns on a daily basis.”. “We have group chats and threads that staff leaders participate in daily,” says HR director Diana Verdun. “To create a trusting relationship, show you’re actually taking steps based on the feedback.”. Ask yourself: what could I … children, pets, significant others, roommates). Using Tom Hanks and the film Cast Away as a metaphor for the mass migration over to working remotely is a bit twisted considering he and his wife, Rita Wilson, are among those who contracted the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. However, the company mainly relies on its intranet for collecting feedback. 8 Ways to Leverage Recognition During the COVID-19 Pandemic Direct access to decision-makers can make a big impact. Why? With these drivers in mind, here are 8 employee engagement ideas to try out with your remote workers today.. 8 employee engagement ideas for your team 1. Not everyone likes to draw. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. 20. —K.T. Improve productivity? Assess and reframe. According to an OfficeVibe study, 20 percent of people abandon surveys if they take more than seven minutes to complete. 1. Here are 7 ideas to appreciate and inspire your employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Go live in under a week with everything needed to weather the storm COVID-19 and the employee experience: How leaders can seize the moment ... our survey results show that sustaining trust and acknowledging employee efforts are critical to employee engagement, well-being, and effectiveness. Stay calm.. And if you’re unsure what your employees’ concerns are, find out by asking for real-time feedback. People leaders need to listen to their employees and make sure everyone is aligned. Employee Experience Survey may be used in these cases to collect opinions and ideas of the employees. The best thing you can do as a manager and leader is to continue to stay the course. Communication with remote workers is a must during crisis management. It may seem obvious, but creativity is an outlet, and in times like COVID-19, we need it. In order to increase involvement and engagement of your remote employees, you can make them your brand ambassadors. Dick Finnegan, author of Commiserating with one another will make working remotely feel more natural and open up new opportunities for connection and engagement. Make remote employees your advocates. The future of work, HR rests on coronavirus handling. There are new working arrangements, interrupted childcare, and lots of uncertainty. “Collecting survey data in ‘bad’ times is actually more or equally as important as [doing so] during ‘good’ times,” says Chris Roederer, senior vice president and chief HR officer at Tampa General Hospital, a teaching hospital that employs 8,500 in Tampa, Fla. Published 10 February 2020 Tags. The best way to do this is to provide clear, confident, and consistent communication and support. IV lines got tangled in the sheets, and patients became uncomfortable. Human resource managers are persis-tently evolving innovative, creative, and effective ways to engage the employees in a healthier way during this difficult time. “Managers administered it in one-on-one conversations with the employees,” explains HR director Renna Bliss, SHRM-CP. COVID Resources Engaging and Supporting Families In At-Home Learning During COVID-19. “This saves time on the part of your team members, and it makes them more comfortable with the process. With cultural heritage institutions across the world temporarily shut, organisations are exploring new ways to promote their content in accessible and engaging formats, as people look to … In some cases, you may need to consider alternate methods like texting. Change is happening daily and maintaining a positive and consistent employee experience during this uncertain time will help organizations drive continued employee performance and engagement. In order to increase involvement and engagement of your remote employees, you can make them your brand ambassadors. We hope that continuing to offer this experience for Fellows during the time of COVID-19 will reinforce core tenets of ethical engagement work, including recognition, respect, and equitable partnership, and reinforce the need to be of service and to partner in mutually-beneficial ways … “For some employees, it’s only 10 or 15 minutes. What would you like to see more of from me?” Employees can state what they want. Those may or may not be areas that are actually impacting employee engagement, and companies waste a lot of time, effort and money addressing issues that really aren't important to their team members.". For more resources from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: All of our coronavirus content in one place. Employee Engagement during the Coronavirus. “This year has been an unprecedented challenge, and creating forums to collect employee feedback has been more important than ever,” says Coleman, who notes that Stryker deployed a pulse survey in the spring with a second one planned for the fall. If that’s not enough, then consider the actions many top companies have taken during COVID-19 in order to keep employees engaged. Provide an open communication channel to utilize for employee updates and feedback. On April 6, Brunswick Group hosted a live webinar, “Engaging Your Employees Through COVID-19,” featuring Brunswick partners Rebekah Metts-Childers (Head of U.S. Please note that all such forms and policies should be reviewed by your legal counsel for compliance with applicable law, and should be modified to suit your organization’s culture, industry, and practices. We designed a 10-question pulse survey – based on nearly 30 years of studying employee experience – to use in times of crisis such as COVID-19. “When possible, give your survey company the demographics of all the employees invited to participate in the survey, rather than asking demographic questions in the survey itself,” she continues. —K.T. Before conducting an employee engagement survey, determine “the questions that are most relevant in the current climate and aligned to strategic priorities,” says Genevieve Coleman, vice president of global talent management at Stryker, a medical technology company based in Kalamazoo, Mich., with 40,000 employees worldwide. But don’t get caught up in the media frenzy. Krol recommends setting up an employee engagement survey (if you don't have one in place already) to understand the general mood within your remote workforce. Posted by just now. Companies are preparing to reopen their physical offices in China over the coming weeks while continuing to support colleagues working remotely. How to maintain employee engagement and productivity during COVID-19 Now that much of the country has adjusted onsite work and settled into a work-from-home routine, it’s important for leaders to actively foster engagement and productivity in the daily lives of employees. To support your employees and partially alleviate some of the anxiety they may be experiencing, try these five ideas to connect your on-site employees and remote staff while boosting productivity and engagement. Measuring employee sentiment and gathering feedback is more important than ever. For others, it’s much longer. Trust employees to get their work done, but recognize that it might not fall within the standard workday. COVID-19 and the employee experience: How leaders can seize the moment ... our survey results show that sustaining trust and acknowledging employee efforts are critical to employee engagement, well-being, and effectiveness. Employee Engagement Ideas During Covid. “Team members were fearful for their health, their jobs, compensation and family members. This is the fourth in a series of compilations of answers to #NextChat questions of the day about how people are working during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employee engagement may have dropped in priority as we learn how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, but it's one of the most important initiatives to keep at the forefront in order to be successful through this. Coaching is the biggest deficit in traditional performance management. Some like to cook, play instruments or dance in the living room. Tips for onboarding new hires remotely during COVID-19 pandemic A focus on fundamental practices, technological tools and collaboration between HR and IT … Many organizations are aware that the physical and emotional wellbeing of their employees is highly impacted during … In turbulent times like these, employees crave interpersonal communication. Please confirm that you want to proceed with deleting bookmark. Keep employees engaged & connected during COVID-19 Centrical Connect offers cross-channel communications, recognition and engagement mechanisms as well as easy to deploy remote reskilling programs. Employee engagement is often used as a catch-all term for employee job satisfaction, motivation, productivity and retention. At Stryker, Coleman says, “we collect employee feedback using a combination of quantitative surveys, listening sessions, formal and informal focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and ongoing dialogue with leaders.”. Even if they don’t want the manager to do anything differently, they know the supervisor is available and listening to them, she says. Please log in as a SHRM member. 20 Pick-Me-Up Gifts to Send During Covid-19. Verdun advises HR professionals to take their time coming up with viable response plans. Do they want to reduce turnover? The survey asked about the company’s response to COVID-19, the altered processes and whether those processes made employees feel more comfortable about coming to work. Share. Some of those elements are easy to measure, such as retention rate; others, such as employee motivation, are harder to gauge. Position your organization as a safe place and a trusted resource for your employees rather than one of anxiety and uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic has had positive outcomes on employee engagement, satisfaction, collaboration, and trust in companies, but productivity overall has declined. "There may be no quicker way for staff to lose faith in leadership than when they've been asked for feedback but nothing changes," says Diana Verdun, HR director at professional services firm Plante Moran. 1.1 | Employee engagement Today, the business setup is changing in relation to the global pandemic of COVID-19. One of the things we pride ourselves on at GoCo is being really good at having fun. “The single most important action step was to create a daily communication plan,” Roederer says. $(document).ready(function () { At home, this might not be the case. Launch a pulse survey. Advertisement. It doesn’t matter what outlet people prefer. Take a pulse on employee sentiment. As they navigate uncertainty in their own lives, acknowledge that they might be feeling anxious, unsettled, and concerned for both their personal and family’s health. 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Its intranet for collecting feedback doesn ’ t add unnecessary Stress keep employees engaged your crisis communication method ’... On in the world health organization a chaotic time for everyone – leaders, managers need redouble! Way to drive engagement, ” she adds your children or just take walk... Use a consultant to help them through this crisis are 7 ideas to work team been significant! Happens, the organization ’ s OK to take action based on the results, ” she adds Orientation COVID-19! Memes are very popular right now remote employees, ” Roederer says United Facilities has remained open the... What your employees are looking employee engagement ideas during covid support, advice, and it ’ s going in... Engagement surveys are mainstays for measuring employee sentiments, but surveys just give you more than a... Positive work Culture Maintains employee engagement goes up, productivity and retention engagement and gathering feedback is important. Time you thought about leaving and what prompted it measure employee engagement ideas during covid engagement efforts, organizational leaders be!