Over 50 percent of organisations changed their approach to gathering feedback from employers during the pandemic, research by XpertHR says.
With 52.3 percent of respondents recognising that remote working is affecting employee engagement, employers have subsequently made changes to their approach in gathering feedback from employees to improve channels of communication.
The research shows that 69 percent of organisations surveyed think employee engagement surveys give the most valuable insight into employee experience.
However, only 17 percent rate them as ‘very effective’ in assessing engagement levels. Most of those surveyed (75%) find them only ‘fairly effective.’
With hybrid working set to continue post-pandemic, the need for organisations to seek permanent solutions to driving engagement increases.
What can employers do to further build employee engagement levels?
Commenting on this data, Senior HR Practice Editor at XpertHR, Noelle Murphy, suggests: “Putting the most efficient engagement and performance feedback methods in place, such as employee surveys for volume married with a richer, less structured employee feedback process, employers can be certain they have access to a true picture of what is important to employees about their working life. Having the best quality data in the world is worthless if there are not tangible and meaningful actions taken by the employer.”
Murphy says: “Ensuring people managers have the skills and experience to act effectively as coaches will also help to drive engagement levels, irrespective of where the employees are carrying out their work from one day to another.”
“A truly effective HR strategy is driven by clear, honest and relevant employee feedback – without it, employers are simply guessing what is important to their employees.”
This is especially important given the current skills shortage in the UK, as well as the prevailing ‘great resignation.’ Providing tangible initiatives to support employee engagement over the coming year is essential to avoiding weakened channels of communication.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
