Employee Engagement during Organizational Crisis – with special reference to the COVID Scenario

Kavitha  Ramakumar; Priyadarshini R G

Kavitha Ramakumar Research Scholar, Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India
Priyadarshini R G Professor, Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India

Keywords: Employee Engagement, Organizational Crisis, COVID, Drivers of Employee Engagement

Abstract

Employee engagement is a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli et al., 2002). Organizations consider employee engagement as one of the ways to develop sustained competitive advantage. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted organizations worldwide, pushing them to resort to remote working. Without much preparedness and readiness, most of the organizations have adapted to remote working and organizations are running business virtually. This scenario is a new trial for organizational leaders as well as employees as everyone is facing new challenges every day.

With the current crisis, maintaining the relationship between the employer and employees becomes crucial. The disconnect to the work environment and moving to a new home office has thrown lots of challenges both to employees and to employers. Employee Engagement during this critical period is the only option employers can embrace to build morale and trust in employees. In this paper, we discuss the employee engagement strategies organizations globally have adapted and how these have been helping organizations and employees to survive the challenging time. This paper is a compilation of discussions and information gathered from many global HR leaders on the Employee Engagement strategies that have been implemented in their organizations during the Pandemic. We discuss how leaders can build trust and the enabling technology available to manage employee engagement in a virtual environment during the Pandemic.