Employee Engagement Trends

Employee engagement is a very abstract concept. It is the “emotional connect” that an employee feels towards its organization. What makes one feel connected to an organization and motivates to deliver her/his best varies from person to person. It also changes with what is happening in and around the world.

We live in a world where trends change in the blink of an eye. A practice that is working fine today might not be applicable tomorrow. The same goes for employee engagement.

With every new generation in the workforce, employee engagement trends change drastically. Forward-thinking business leaders and managers must keep themselves updated on these engagement strategies.

(Dutta, 2019)

Employee Engagement Trends for 2023:

1. People-first culture

Employee engagement, which seemed like an exciting concept at the beginning of the last decade, is now an obvious business goal. There is an urgent need to elevate company culture or risk losing top talent. Companies like Hilton, Salesforce, American Express are setting the stage for companies to implement strategies to reinvent company culture.

A people-first culture can bloom only when every individual feels cared for and respected by the people organization, starting from top-level to bottom. It is a path that every organization must venture on.

2. More prominence to work-life harmony

Most job functions don't require employees to be at work every day physically. And the new-age employees are taking full advantage of it.

Constructive policies at work such as work-from-home options, flexible office timings, and remote working options only go to prove this point right.

This is, in fact, a very cost-friendly yet highly effective employee engagement trend. It is a path that companies ought to take.

3.Ample opportunities for career growth

Employees today seek career progression in their profession more than anything. They want to be in a job that helps them grow as an individual, personally and professionally. They want to shape their careers with every job role they play progressively.

To retain them, organizations must foster an environment where they can learn, grow and advance. Companies should invest more in learning and development programs and proper mentoring programs.

Additionally, within the organization, growth should be visible and consistent. You should make Promotion and recognition practice a frequent, timely, and fair affair.

4.Workplace wellness

Employees spend a huge amount of their waking hours in their workplaces. Naturally, health has a lot to do with the company's work environment and work culture.

“A healthy mind resides in a healthy body”. Naturally, a healthy individual outperforms others.

Health has a direct correlation with the productivity and performance level of employees. Hence, the bottom line of the company. 

Offering a sound corporate wellness program is a financial as well as a moral responsibility of an organization.

5.Women empowerment and gender equality in the workplace 

In the past few decades, the role and position of women have changed, and they form a considerable part of the workforce. Despite these accomplishments, they still have to face various challenges, such as low wages, sexual harassment, lack of security, pregnancy discrimination, etc. These issues are so prevalent that they create mental problems, limiting their productivity and growth.

6.Build an employee listening program

In this ever-evolving work environment, it’s more important than ever to effectively listen, support, and engage with your workforce throughout their journey.

Building an employee listening strategy helps companies understand what’s happening among their employees, who are their top performers, and ensure their programs support their workforce. This is an excellent way to improve employee experience and ultimately boost employee engagement.

To implement an employee listening strategy, pulse surveys can be your best bet. These allow HR professionals to understand employee perceptions about your company or programs. Plus, they can also help address their concerns during times of change, transition, or disruption.

7.Recognition  

Receiving praise and recognition from leaders is a critical employee engagement trend that has never failed. Before the pandemic, it was easy to praise coworkers and employees during meetings and other informal interactions. But now, employee recognition has become limited as many workers work remotely, and simple recognition efforts aren’t readily available. As a result, they feel left out, impacting their engagement levels.  

The need is to embrace technology-driven employee recognition ideas to boost employee performance. This way, you not only motivate individuals but help increase productivity and output from your entire team.

8.Allow Remote work

However, remote employment poses issues for employee engagement. Effective communication is required more than ever to guarantee that all employees are aware of organizational standards and respond correctly.

Ensure that your employees have reasonable expectations for their remote work. Exactly how many hours every day do you anticipate your employees to work? Companies must adapt, respond, and accelerate in order to satisfy the needs of their employees, whether they are located in the next office or halfway around the world.

9.People analytics tools

Tools for people analytics enable the collection and analysis of HR data easier and more efficient. They enable the exploration of links and causality and the ability to make data-driven decisions regarding how to advance or improve. Examples of people analytics data include workforce composition, cost per hire, employee engagement, staff turnover rate, gender pay equity, and diversity.

HR best practices, business interactions, and the HR-employee relationship can all be transformed with the assistance of high-quality insights acquired and displayed through people analytics solutions.

(Leena AI, 2022)

(Team, 2020)

Employee Engagement: The Trends in a Worldwide Pandemic 

While major crises, such as these, wreak havoc on people and the economy, they tend to impact employees in unexpected ways. During the crash of the stock market in 2008, our research showed that it was not necessarily the poor economic conditions that most affected employees’ levels of engagement and sentiment related to their work and employer, but rather, the major factor was the result of leaders’ actions and how they led their companies through the crisis. 

Up to this point in the pandemic, we are seeing a very similar trend regarding the impact to employee engagement as well as what factors are emerging as most driving engagement. 

As the threat of the pandemic grew incrementally in March and through the summer of 2020, we formed a hypothesis from our learned experience of prior crises that engagement was likely to increase, and the research conducted by WSA indicates that indeed it has. We analyzed engagement survey data across 200 engagement census survey projects collected between 2020 and 2021, and what we found surpassed all expectations. 

To understand the impetus for the substantial increase in engagement that was found, we examined the drivers of engagement between 2020 and the first half of 2021, and we compared them to the known drivers pre-pandemic. From our previous research before the pandemic, we had found that there are six fundamental drivers of engagement that tend to show up regardless of organization size, industry, country location or culture. Pre-pandemic, the greatest driver of engagement was growth and development, referring to the opportunity for employees to develop their skills and abilities, as well as pursue growth and advancement within the company. 

When investigating several dozen of organizations who had surveyed in 2020 and 2021 as a preliminary analysis, we found that growth and development was no longer the number one driver of engagement. Instead, another fundamental key driver of engagement — future vision — emerged stronger. Future vision is defined as employee confidence in the future of their organization and their belief that leadership can guide the organization through the rough waters. 

During this time of crisis, future vision has consistently risen in priority and impact to employee engagement — and for organizations who acted upon it, future vision scores are quite positive. This evolution makes sense as during a crisis, future vision translates as comfort and trust for employees in the direction and choices of the organization and its leadership, instilling a sense of confidence. It also envelopes a measure of security for their personal well-being.

(Workforce Science Associates, 2023)

(AIHR, 2020)

Conclusion

Employee trends refer to the patterns and shifts in the attitudes, behaviors, and expectations of employees in the workplace. These trends can emerge due to a variety of factors, including changes in technology, shifts in societal values, and evolving workforce demographics. By staying up-to-date on employee trends, employers can better understand the needs and preferences of their employees, and create a workplace that is more engaging, productive, and supportive. Keeping up with employee trends can also help companies attract and retain top talent, as employees are more likely to stay with a company that values their needs and interests.

References

AIHR. (2020). Top 10 HR Trends for 2021 and Beyond. [online] Available at: https://www.aihr.com/blog/hr-trends/(Accessed Date 14 Apr 2023).

Dutta, D. (2019). 13 Employee Engagement Trends for 2020. [online] Vantage Circle HR Blog. Available at: https://blog.vantagecircle.com/employee-engagement-trends/(Accessed Date 13 Apr 2023).

Leena AI. (2022). 15 Employee Engagement Trends for 2022. [online] Available at: https://leena.ai/blog/employee-engagement-trends/(Accessed Date 14 Apr 2023).

Team, E. (2020). Employee Engagement in HR: What It Involves? [online] iDeal BlogHub. Available at: https://idealbloghub.com/employee-engagement-in-hr-what-it-involves/(Accessed Date 14 Apr 2023).

Workforce Science Associates. (2023). Employee Engagement: The Trends in a Worldwide Pandemic. [online] Available at: https://workforcescience.com/learn/workforce-performance-lab/employee-engagement-the-trends-in-a-worldwide-pandemic/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2023].