Survey Focuses on SA Employee Engagement and Experience

Employees’ expectations and the level of engagement in the workplace are constantly changing due to today’s connected working environment. A recent survey set out to find out how South Africans perceive employee engagement based on their own experience at work.

According to the online survey conducted by Wyzetalk with BusinessTech, employees seek meaningful work, flexibility, autonomy, mentoring and collaborative communication.

Employees expect to be engaged differently. Unfortunately, in most cases, the employee experience is nothing more than a corporate buzzword.

Some concerning findings of employee experience among the more than 2410 survey respondents include the following:

• 41% reported general poor communication from the top management
• 43% cited a lack of interdepartmental collaboration and integration
• 41% believed the focus was more on sales and production than people
• Nearly 50% felt they couldn’t voice their opinions and provide feedback
• 25% believed the overall communication in their companies is inefficient
• 68% said their companies mostly use traditional channels such as email or intranet
• Only 14% mentioned collaboration tools widely adopted by their companies
• 9% said their companies still rely on printed collateral like posters and noticeboards
• 33% felt that a positive employee experience was not a priority
• Only 27% reported the company’s willingness to improve the employee experience
• 57% believe they are more productive when they feel valued by management
• 27% said working for a customer-centric organisation is non-negotiable
• Only 1% thought that employee experience is not relevant

According to the survey poll, employees prefer direct, personalised and engaging communication with their peers and superiors. They value autonomy and need to feel they are trusted, accountable and empowered to do their jobs. Having opportunities for growth, training and learning is equally important as getting a fair appraisal.

Another decisive contributing factor to a better experience is work flexibility, meaning that employers have to understand the need to balance work priorities with life and family requirements.

In a nutshell, employees are more likely to work for a company that prioritises its people and places a focus on employee engagement and well-being above other things.

In conclusion, organisations must deliver on these new employee experience expectations and rethink their workplace strategies and HR policies to retain their staff.

Click here to find out more about the survey.

Professional Sourcing is a top-tier South African-based recruitment agency operating internationally, IPM accredited, LEVEL 2 BEE RATED and 51% Black Owned.