New research has found that the current top two priorities for HR and business leaders are employee engagement and the overall employee experience, and employee wellbeing, cited by 57% and 56% respectively.
Staff engagement organisation WorkBuzz's new report, The state of employee engagement 2021, included insights from more than 300 organisational leaders, HR professionals, and industry experts on key challenges, priorities and opportunities following the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) crisis.
The research also revealed that 44% of respondents are focusing their resources on creating diverse and inclusive workplaces, with the same number concentrating on improving employee retention. Slightly fewer leaders (43%) are most concerned about hybrid and flexible working and how to make it a success, and 32% were prioritising improving their company culture.
Overall, 34% of organisations said that their employee engagement levels had increased during the past 12 months, with the same figure stating it had declined and 22% answering that it had stayed the same. Regarding those who are mostly office based and able to work remotely, 4% said employee engagement had improved rather than declined, and 24% of those with frontline workers unable to work remotely said it had declined than improved.
Steven Frost, CEO and founder of WorkBuzz, commented that recruiting and retaining talent is getting even harder, as people want to work for organisations with great cultures, that care about their wellbeing, and are focusing on providing an employee experience that includes listening to people’s needs and expectations, learning how to make things better, and quickly delivering the improvements required.
“As employers are fighting to keep their employees from walking out the door, it makes sense that leaders are looking at how to create inclusive and attractive cultures with roles that offer flexibility around where and when people work. Talent now expects more flexibility than ever before, so if employers are not offering this, they’ll be severely limiting their talent pool,” he said.
