Employee Engagement Rises Amid Coronavirus | Gallup

Perhaps surprisingly, although Americans’ wellbeing has dropped to a 12-year low in the past month amid the coronavirus outbreak, the engagement of the working population has hit a new high. The percentage of “engaged” workers in the U.S. reached 38%, which is the highest since Gallup began tracking the metric in 2000. The percentage of workers who are “actively disengaged” tied the 2018 and 2019 low of 13%. The remaining 49% of workers are “not engaged,” meaning that they put time, but not energy or passion, into their work. This article outlines three factors that might explain the continued uptick of engagement during the coronavirus pandemic. 1) The employer response is improving. Although responses vary, many organizations have focused on communication and have accommodated employees as best as they can during the pandemic. 2) The employment base is smaller. Given that more than 30 million people have become unemployed, these individuals are not included in the employee engagement index. 3) Employees feel fortunate to have work. Due to job losses, those who are still employed may respond favorably. Regardless of the reasons, it is important to remember that the ways in which employees feel treated and supported by their organizations throughout this pandemic will have implications (for the better or worse) beyond the pandemic in terms of retention, engagement, and performance. There is still an opportunity for organizations to re-engage the 49% of workers who are in the “middle” of the engagement spectrum.