An engaged workforce can be achieved only through the diligent attention to the desires and sentiments of employees.

CEO’s should periodically check in with their workforce to determine whether management’s relationship with its employees remains strong. Doing this will help you determine what areas of your workforce lack engagement. Only then can management take a critical look at employment conditions, find areas that can be improved, increase employee engagement and loyalty of the brand.   

The following list of factors can be used as a guide to determine whether employment conditions are conducive to an engaged or disengaged workforce. 

• How do employees feel Corporate Leadership handles a crisis? ( For example, COVID-19, work from home and layoffs)
• Do your employees feel ignored?
• Have they received only a minimum amount of information about the company’s business health, goals and achievements?
• Have management’s rules and policies been consistently enforced/changed?
• Are employee complaints, and grievances being discussed and cleared up promptly by management?
• Is there a grievance procedure in place for dealing with employee complaints?
• Have there been recent incidents of discipline or discharge that employees perceive were implemented without a thorough and impartial investigation? 

The ripple effects of how companies managed during the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt for years to come. What are you doing to discuss your perceived failures and lack of action? What are you doing to create a feeling of gratitude amongst your workforce? What are you doing now to ensure that the employees that you laid off, allowed to work from home, or downsized, when called upon to return to work, will return displaying the same positive positive attitude. Although this is something like none of us have seen before, there are outside third parties that are waiting to exploit your reaction time, or lack thereof to create a rift between your corporate brand and your employees.