While the world was still gearing up for the disruption, technological advancements and automation at workplaces, the COVID-19 pandemic wielded its sword to strike global terror. The entire spectrum of events, employee engagement activities, benefits, innovative onboarding, and incentivizing was brought to a halt for an indefinite time!
The pandemic has forced 88% of working professionals to work from their homes, but it also led to a record 3.3 million application submissions for unemployment benefits in the USA.
When your business is fighting for survival and generating minimum revenue is essential for continuity, thinking about employee satisfaction might be way down your priority list.Â
Would you believe us if we say that maintaining employee satisfaction is much more important now? This is because happy customers are a result of happy employees?
As critical as it is to have a loyal and happy customer base that keeps the accounts clinking, it is vital to have a happy workforce that understands the importance of customer experience and loves to take that extra step towards delivering excellent customer journeys.
In the following section, we will share some of the best ways to measure employee satisfaction during COVID-19.
COVID-19, it’s Global Impact and Employee Satisfaction
While work-from-home seems to be the new normal, the dwindling levels of employee satisfaction paint a gloomy picture on the business landscape.
A recent Gartner survey to measure employee satisfaction level revealed that only 13% of employees are satisfied with their work experiences. It also states that businesses will have to spend 82% more to maintain their employee satisfaction levels.Â
The following graph represents the percentage of the adult working force that wishes to see a change in HR policies in response to COVID-19.
Another decisive statistic that needs the attention of every HR Professional worldwide is that 7 out of 10 HR leaders feel that business continuity planning and crisis management are the two biggest challenges amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, how to measure employee satisfaction during COVID-19? What are some of the sure-shot ways to measure employee satisfaction and how to craft a remote working experience that can help you overcome the hurdles posed by this pandemic?Â
Let us find out answers to all these questions one-by-one.
Ways to maintain Employee Satisfaction Levels during COVID-19
1. Communicate regularly
Life after work, employee relationships that go beyond the professional interaction, sharing critical information, and making your team feel that you understand the situation you all are in – these are some things that make your employees feel valued. Employees prefer transparent and humanistic communication instead of official emails regarding new norms and virtual workplace regulations.
Takeaway:
Crisis calls for an effective and reliable communication strategy to maintain accord and harmony among your employees. Sharing the perils of pandemic without losing a sense of responsibility and stance of a leader in tough times, makes you a person your employees can relate to.
2. Make collaboration efficient
Employ the right automation and tools to make sure your virtual collaboration and online gatherings drive your business goals. Instead of relying on neverending email threads, opt for smart online collaboration tools that allow you to share files, screens, and work effectively in a virtual office environment.Â
Multi-channel communication and sharing features make it easier to work and collaborate in a virtual office setup. A product feedback software can help you gather overall feedback from the entire team.
Takeaway:
Make the most of your online interactions and meet-ups by employing efficient tools and smart automation. Shared inboxes, shared story-boards, chat backups, searching old chats, and real-time collaboration over multiple channels ensure employee engagement.
3. Establish flexible work from home policies
Working from home comes with its perils. You are in the middle of a client meeting, and your toddler walks-in, or suddenly you hear a noisy blender run at full throttle! The scenarios are as varied and as queer as possible. For working women, things are even more demanding, with their entire family being at home without any house help.Â
Instead of pressing on a rigid schedule, go for a flexible work-from-home model that accommodates your employees to make the remote working experience a win-win situation for all.
Takeaway:
Do a pulse-check by conducting surveys that ask questions about time, duration of meetings, collaboration needs and requirements, and an option to work off-hours. This can allow you to measure employee satisfaction levels in an effective manner and introduce flexibility in your virtual office the right way!
4. Encourage continuous engagementÂ
KPMG outlines that employee engagement is crucial for talent retention and that efforts towards employee engagement must be continuous and consistent. Crises like a pandemic call for innovative engagement measures that must be turned into organizational behavior for long-lasting success.Â
Further, it is important to keep measuring the effect and impact of these new measures across both the verticals, viz. Customers and Employees.
Takeaway:
Implement new engagement measures, take feedback from your team and customers and then work on that feedback – this is one of the best ways to measure employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and unlock success!
5. Enable knowledge sharing
The Harvard Business Review mentions that the HR leaders need to share knowledge for talent management and for maximizing their returns on the people. Sharing reliable content well-in-time and, in fact, ahead of it, instill a sense of companionship among the teammates.Â
Gartner’s recent study offers excellent insights into employee motivation and behavior, where knowledge sharing plays a crucial role.
Takeaway:
Recording previous experiences as case studies, reports, and other types of insightful content, and sharing the same with your employees empower them with an enterprise-grade experience and help them relate better to your organization. Â
6. Conduct regular employee satisfaction surveys
No strategy is considered a success unless the audience says so! Regular pulse-checks in the form of employee satisfaction surveys and smart online survey makers to make the job easy – this is a powerful duo that can help you achieve unprecedented levels of employee satisfaction.Â
Takeaway:
Surveys are a work-practice that will prove handy in the post-COVID scenario as well. Gauge employee satisfaction, collate employee feedback, and share it on your website. Follow employee testimonial best practices to identify the best ways to flaunt positive feedback.Â
This brings us to another powerful question:
How does one measure employee satisfaction?
To maintain satisfaction levels, begin with gathering employee feedback!
An intuitive and smart survey compiled with an efficient online survey maker, such as ProProfs Survey Maker that comes with in-built intelligence is one of the best ways to do so. A survey will do a pulse-check and find out what drives the motivation and engagement of your employees.Â
Angela White is an ed-tech enthusiast with a passion for writing for the consumer market in the areas of product research and marketing, using eLearning software.
