Why This Is a Great Time to Run an Employee Engagement Survey

Managing your team through a period of charged social tensions and a global pandemic is surely challenge enough for most leaders. As such, reinvesting in your employee engagement strategy may seem an especially daunting idea right now. Perhaps surprisingly, this is an excellent time for leadership to pivot towards culture and engagement.

Knowledgeable employers recognize that an employee engagement survey is not a contest where success is measured simply by a high score. They know engagement surveys are tools to examine their organizations. Used correctly they can discover the truths about how employees feel in their roles and what is helping or hurting their sense of commitment to their work. A difficult period is actually a great time to uncover where employees are struggling and identify what areas are thriving.

A Perfect Storm For Understanding Employee Engagement

The benefits of increased employee engagement are well understood and a key metric for many organizations. So much so, that employee engagement surveys often focus on achieving ever higher employee engagement scores. This can lead to timing surveys for when staff are least stressed and more likely to report overall satisfaction. The results may be impressive, but they are not illustrative of how employees engage with their work day-to-day.

During a crisis, employee stresses and organizational weak spots are more likely to be laid bare. This makes it an opportune time to invest in analysing and addressing these issues while they are top of mind and most impactful on staff. Processes related to work-life balance and job role clarity as well as information sharing are all affecting employees now more than ever. In addition, the strains of remote work and team coordination may be testing the resiliency of company culture.

Performing an employee engagement survey right now can shine a light on these issues and potentially uncover many more. Survey results will provide valuable insights into where staff are struggling and also highlight areas of strength that companies can build on.

The Right Time To Focus On Culture And Engagement

Employee engagement is strongly linked to a company’s success, even more so during tough times. Whatever workplace challenges staff are encountering, the need for trust and a sense of recognition remain key to their commitment. With so many issues impacting employees out of the hands of management, pivoting to focus on engagement and culture makes sense. Though they can not control what is happening in the world, organizations can actively assess and improve their own ways to support employees.

By undertaking an engagement survey, organizations demonstrate that they they value their employees and are endeavoring to hone in and resolve identified areas of need. This itself can be a positive side effect of choosing to focus on employee engagement in a time of uncertainty. Most importantly, it helps organizations understand which areas are having the biggest impact on employee performance and engagement, just when it matters most.

To learn more about the services Flex Surveys offers and how they can help your team, contact us at 877.327.5085 or visit our Contact Page to set up a demo.