How to improve employee engagement

At the start of the pandemic, communicators were thrust into a crash course on how to engage a remote workforce. Some were more prepared than others.

“Some organizations were ready in adopting new technology when employees were sent to work from home because of the shelter-in-place orders,” explains Angus Florance, product marketing manager for Microsoft’s Yammer. “Others became busy trying to make existing solutions work. And some had to start from scratch. Regardless, the technology changes have had to move very quickly without having had much time think about employee engagement.”

The engagement challenges for communications are many—recruiting, employee onboarding, shipping and receiving, and customer engagement on top of stressors from COVID-19 (mental, physical, emotional), Florance says.To combat those challenges, he encourages communicators to “keep an open mind and keep trying.”

Employees might be open to trying something new. “If you tried a campaign a few years ago, and it did not pan out with the results you thought it should, try again. Start small and experiment with specific groups, projects, teams, opportunities, or events.”

He also suggests finding leaders willing to learn and use technology.