by Transition Solutions
Have you struggled to keep your workforce engaged during the turmoil of 2020?
At Transition Solutions, we have been helping companies and individuals with workforce changes for 30 years.
Gallup is an employee engagement expert, and they stated in their Q3 report, summer 2020 employee engagement was a roller-coaster of unprecedented volatility. Gallup started measuring employee engagement in 2000 and the metric has been steady without a lot of ups and downs until 2020.
The good news is that after a wild summer, affected by various combined stressors including the ongoing pandemic and related restrictions, mounting political tensions, and societal unrest, employees engaged — those who are highly involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace — has reverted back to pre-COVID-19 levels coming in at 36%.
The bad news is that the remaining 51% of workers are “not engaged” — they are psychologically unattached to their work and company. They’re also on the lookout for better employment opportunities and will quickly leave their company for a slightly better offer.
In an environment where many are still working from home, how do you maintain or even increase your employee engagement?
While many organizations were not truly prepared to shift so quickly to remote environments, some like Gallup have been researching virtual work for many years and they recommend the below tactics to keeping your remote team engaged:
- Proactive Conversations: Managers need to have five different types of conversations with remote workers to encourage performance: role and relationship development, quick connect, check-in, developmental coaching, and progress review. And these conversations need to focus on an employee’s individual achievements, collaboration with their team members and their customer value.
- Frequent Feedback: Remote employees are 3x more likely to be engaged if they receive feedback from their manager at least a few times per month. But if they have conversations with their managers on a weekly basis or more often, they’re also 3x more likely to strongly agree they’re motivated to do outstanding work.
- Isolation versus Loneliness: These are two different things, and managers need two different solutions for them. Isolation can be resolved by access to people, decisions, technology and equipment. Loneliness reflects a lack of meaningful connection — and the definition of “meaningful” depends on the worker. Managers need to know that definition for every person on their team and individualize accordingly.
Whether your team is meeting together or virtually, employee engagement matters and has proven to be a strong indicator of key business success metrics such as profitability, lower turnover and absenteeism, improved quality and productivity and more.
If you are experiencing the need to make adjustments to your workforce, we are here to help. At Transition Solutions, we’ve been helping companies with outplacement needs for 30 years. We have developed a robust personalized and customized approach to every situation. Our strong reputation for consistently delivering exceptional service at value sets us apart.
If you would like more information on our services please check out our website at http://www.transitionsolutions.com or you can contact us directly at 888-424-0003 or email us at info@transitionsolutions.com