Tips to Improve Employee Engagement During a Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for many workplaces, particularly with remote work affecting employee engagement. An internal communication strategy is a key component to improve employee engagement especially during a crisis.

The Institute for Public Relations summarizes a survey which found:

• Organizations that employ two-way communication are more likely to engage remote employees in a prolonged crisis.
• Producing content that aims to strengthen trust in the organization by sharing the organization’s values, strategies, and long-term outlook can boost employee engagement. In short, the right content can motivate and encourage employees to stay engaged at work.
• Remote work can potentially be isolating, and it is not enough to provide employees with a sense of control over their time, work, and communication media. Employers must also enable social connection.

Best practices based on these findings are to:

• focus on providing opportunities for two-way communication that will allow employees to share their concerns, particularly when they are away from their physical workplaces during crises, and;
• ensure that new ways of working include technology that can bolster social connection, such as the use of video conferencing instead of email.

For more resources regarding employee engagement, visit OHR’s Employee Engagement webpage. If you have any questions about improving employee engagement, reach out to the University Relations Internal Communications team at internalcomms@umn.edu.