2021
ENGAGEMENT
REPORT
Contents
3 Message from the CEO
4 Impact of engagement
5 Employee satisfaction results
6 Employee engagement
6 Levels
7 Trends
8 Drivers and recommendations
12 Key considerations for 2021
A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
2020 introduced challenges most of us have never experienced in
our personal or professional lives. To put the data that will be shared in this report into
proper context, it’s important to remember that the thousands of employees who
responded to these surveys were living through a year that included:
• Presidential impeachment • Social injustice and unrest
• Global coronavirus pandemic • Contentious local and national elections
• Lockdowns • A GDP drop of 5% in Q1 and 31.4% in
Q2 followed by growth of 33.4% in Q3
• 14.8% unemployment in April
and 4% in Q4
(an 11.3% increase in two months)
No one went through the year unaffected by some or all these events. Understandably,
some organizations chose not to survey their employees in 2020, but those who did
were richly rewarded with information that allowed them to invest in their employees in
meaningful ways.
We at People Element were fortunate to
witness organizations navigate these events to
adapt, improve, and ultimately strengthen their
cultures and communities. We’re proud to be
associated with these organizations and to
have played a small part in their efforts.
Chris Coberly
CEO - People Element
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IMPACT OF ENGAGEMENT
Increased employee engagement results in reduced turnover,
improved productivity, better customer retention, stronger financial health, and most
importantly, happier employees. Having an effective employee engagement strategy is
therefore a key ingredient to the operational and financial success of any organization.
Whether your approach to employee experience feedback uses continuous listening or
an annual engagement survey, we hope this report can provide you additional context
as you work to improve employee engagement at your organization.
20% 21%
17%
10%
Productivity
HIGH EN GA GEM EN T
Profit
Sales
=
CX
Absenteeism
Turnover
41%
59% Source: Gallup
The data in the 2021 People Element Engagement Report includes responses
from thousands of US-based employees across numerous industries including
manufacturing, healthcare, education, transportation, construction, real estate,
finance, municipalities, government, technology, and farming.
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EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION RESULTS
SATISFIERS
Safety
Coworkers
Job Satisfaction
Compensation
DISSATISFIERS
Voice
Leadership
Feeling Valued
Communication
Understanding employee dissatisfiers gives us
better context to overall employee engagement and
helps us determine where to focus our efforts.
Employees were least satisfied in the following areas:
Compensation 41% of respondents were dissatisfied with compensation. Specifically, they felt they were not paid
fairly in comparison to others at the organization doing similar work.
Employee Voice 36% of respondents noted dissatisfaction with feeling they had a voice within the organization.
Responses were least favorable around leadership listening to and caring about their concerns.
Leadership 35% of respondents were dissatisfied with leadership, scoring them particularly low on effectively
resolving key organizational issues.
Feeling Valued 35% of respondents said they did not feel valued. They specifically referenced not feeling valued by
leadership.
Communication 35% of respondents expressed concerns with communication. The lowest scores in this area were
centered around communication between departments not being effective.
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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT - LEVELS
Our engagement index uses a set of six questions to determine
levels of engagement within an organization. The index measures the commitment,
effort, connection, and advocacy a person feels towards their company.
Employee populations are divided up into four engagement groups:
Actively Opportunity Engaged Actively
Disengaged Group Contributor Engaged
Employees who consistently Employees who are Employees who are satisfied Employees who take personal
view their work and the ambivalent about their work with their work and speak well satisfaction in what they do
company unfavorably and workplace of the company and how they do it
Most likely to disparage and Work just enough to get by Meet expectations of the job Likely to take personal risks
talk negatively about the and fly under the radar but not likely to take risks or and stretch themselves to do
company and leaders go above and beyond more and learn new things
Tend to blame the company Do not actively contribute to Tend to stay in their comfort Learning and growing, helping
and point finger at others the workplace zone the company develop
Will quit, or stay and The main reason for staying is Committed to their work Love their work
contribute to a negative contractual and to get paid
environment if no change
occurs
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EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT - TRENDS
Engagement levels were up in most organizations in 2020 resulting
in a 5% increase in overall employee engagement. Initially, this may be surprising with
the volatility of the employment market but the data reveals employees felt more
connected to their organizations and coworkers as they came together to support
each other and overcome business challenges. Many companies and their
employees were suddenly very aligned in their goals, resulting in a significant
improvement in overall engagement.
2020 Engagement
14%
Overall employee engagement is determined
61%
40% by adding the Engaged/Contributor and
Actively Engaged groups together.
25%
Engaged
21%
40%
36% 36%
61%
27%
25% 24%
21%
20% 20%
19%
17%
15%
56% 56%
2018 2019 2020
Actively Disengaged Opportunity Group Engaged/Contributor Actively Engaged Overall Engagement
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KEY DRIVERS OF ENGAGEMENT IN 2020
LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION VOICE & FEELING VALUED
Key drivers were determined by
conducting Spearman correlations on
all surveys’ items to highlight which
showed both a high correlation
against our engagement index as well
as a low score.
The feedback and analysis were clear, the areas that would most
improve employee engagement were Leadership Communication
and Employee Voice/Feeling Valued. Effectively executed
strategies that improve communication and voice will result in
increased engagement and happier employees.
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LEADERSHIP VOICE & FEELING
COMMUNICATION VALUED
Respondents who rated Respondents who rated
leadership communication as an voice/feeling valued as an
opportunity, specifically identified opportunity, specifically
communicating a clear vision, identified feeling valued, having
sufficient communication, being a voice, their ideas being given
kept informed, and confidence consideration, and leadership
and trust in leadership as areas showing they value employees
for improvement. as areas for improvement.
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LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION
Employees are consistently looking for more stability, reassurance, and
direction. Information empowers them to make necessary decisions for themselves and
their families. Additionally, according to the Prosci 2016 Best Practices in Change
Management Report, 74% of employees prefer to receive business messages from their
CEO/President or Executive Manager. As things continue to change and settle in 2021,
high employee engagement levels will rely on an effective leadership communication
strategy.
Recommendations:
Now is a great time to revisit your communication strategy making sure it includes
People Element’s 5 keys to an effective communication strategy:
1. Communications should always be appropriately transparent, empathic & specific.
2. Listen – create opportunities for them to provide input & ask questions to leadership.
3. Use as many delivery mediums as possible as people absorb information in different
ways (company/department meeting, video, recorded messages, email, etc.).
4. Establish an appropriate frequency of communications and be consistent.
5. Under the current circumstances, we
recommend the following topics be covered:
• Clear vision for your organization in 2021
and the next 3 to 5 years.
• How they can help the company reach its
goals – help them connect themselves to
your vision.
• Financial status/health of the company.
• Items that may impact them (remote work
policies, social distancing policies, etc.).
• Provide appropriate encouragement,
hope, and gratitude for their efforts.
Additional reading:
• 5 Ways to Effectively Communicate with Employees (Entrepreneur) • 5 Tips for Effective Leadership Communication (Blue Beyond Consulting)
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EMPLOYEE VOICE & FEELING VALUED
As humans, we all want to feel that we’re important and that we matter
to those around us. Likewise, employees hope their relationship with an organization is
more than just work product and a paycheck. Being a valued member of a team working
to accomplish a common goal creates meaning in the work an employee does.
Additionally, knowing that input and feedback are not just welcome but important to the
organization only increases how valued an employee feels and ultimately, how engaged
they are.
Recommendations:
Have you updated your employee experience strategy recently? Many organizations spent
2020 making necessary adjustments to continue to operate as effectively as possible
under the circumstances and are just now able to take the time to revisit what their
employees might be experiencing day to day. Consider the following as you refresh your
strategy:
• How important are your employees to your
company? Have you told them? Provide
appropriate encouragement, hope, and
gratitude for their efforts.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of your
employee recognition program. Recognition
should be individual and meaningful.
• Provide and communicate various ways for
employees to give feedback (suggestion
box, roundtable discussions,
company/department meetings, employee
surveys). “The responsibility of a company is to serve the
• Use any and all opportunities to communicate customer. The responsibility of leadership is to
what actions you’re taking as a result of their serve their people so that their people may better
serve the customer. If leaders fail to serve their
feedback. people first, both customer and company will
suffer.”
- Simon Sinek
author,motivational speaker
and marketing consultant
Additional reading:
• Get Your Employees to Make Better Suggestions (Harvard Business Review) • 9 Easy Ways to Show Your Employees You Value Them (Inc.)
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KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR 2021
It’s important we account for factors that are already emerging in
2021 as well as your own internal considerations. These areas have been identified by
recent employee engagement surveys as well as HR industry experts as important
elements in any engagement strategy moving forward.
Remote Life
work experience
Diversity & Growth &
inclusion development
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EMPLOYEE VOICE
Key Considerations & FEELING VALUED
for 2021
REMOTE WORK
The percentage of remote workers is expected to double in 2021 according to a survey
conducted by Enterprise Technology Research (ETR). A Gartner CFO survey shows 74%
of CFOs intend to shift workers permanently remote after COVID ends. With this shift in the
workforce, its important to consider the potential impact on employee connectivity to the
culture, communication challenges, work/life balance, and coworker relationships.
Resources: Keeping remote workers engaged
LIFE EXPERIENCE
In 2021 we will begin to see a more aggressive shift by employers to take a bigger role in
supporting the life experience of employees rather than just the work experience. Gartner’s
2020 ReimagineHR Employee Survey identified that employers that support employees
with their life experience see a 23% increase in the number of employees reporting better
mental health and a 17% increase in the number of employees reporting better physical
health. There is also a real benefit to employers, who see a 21% increase in the number of
high performers compared to organizations that don’t provide the same degree of support
to their employees.
Resources: Gartner’s 2020 ReimagineHR Employee Survey
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Every employee having the opportunity to contribute leads directly to feeling valued and
higher engagement. According to a recent study, companies who are inclusive have 2.3
times higher cash flow per employee over a three-year period, are 1.7 times more likely to
be innovation leaders in their market, and 2.9 times more likely to identify and build leaders.
“Inclusion is the ability to engage diversity in your workforce, so that everyone has equal
opportunities to contribute.”
-Shirley Davis Sheppard, Ph.D.
Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion and Workplace Flexibility at the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM)
Resources: Why diversity & inclusion will be a top priority (Josh Bersin)
GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
Employees will apply increased pressure on their organizations to offer learning and
development courses and resources to up-level the value they can provide their companies.
The absence of employer programs may lead employees to engage easily accessible online
solutions to enhance their skills to improve the quality of their job opportunities elsewhere.
Resources: How to provide growth when you can’t promote
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Our vision at People Element is to help organizations
achieve meaningful change in their employee engagement and retention
outcomes. We hope this report helps you achieve the change your company
needs to improve the employee experience and, as a result, take advantage of the
benefits a highly engaged workforce can provide.
About People Element
We keep the measuring and improving of the employee experience simple by
providing you an innovative solution that gives you the speed and confidence to
act on the things that matter most to the success of your business. Combining an
easy to use yet powerful platform with world-class services and expert support,
People Element provides the best of both worlds for understanding and improving
your employee experience.
People Element Platform
and services overview:
Watch Video
Engagement. Retention. Simplified.
Schedule a live tour!
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