Qualtrics’ Employee Experience Trends reveals ‘belonging’ key to employee engagement in Singapore in 2021

Annual report finds top engagement drivers shifted significantly during 2020

SINGAPORE
– Media OutReach – 8 February 2021 – New research released today by Qualtrics, the
leader in employee experience (EX) and creator of the experience
management (XM) category, has revealed significant shifts to the drivers of
employee engagement in Singapore in 2021.

 

According to the 2021 Singapore Employee Experience Trends Report, four of the top five employee engagement
drivers changed over the last year. Creating a sense of belonging, and
continually improving ways of working emerged as the top two drivers of
employee engagement. Confidence in senior leadership – which was second in last
year’s list – ranked third, followed by managers role modelling effective
collaboration with other teams, and effective collaboration between teams.

 

The engagement drivers to drop out of the top five were a clear link
between work and the company’s strategic objectives, managers who help
employees with career development, opportunities for learning and development,
and recognition for good work.

 

Employee engagement in
Singapore on the rise 

 

Despite the challenges faced by businesses and government in 2020,
overall levels of employee engagement in Singapore increased to 56% in 2020,
from 47% in 2019. This is in line with the global average, which rose 13% in
the last year (66% vs. 53%). Intent
to stay with an organisation three years or more also increased to 56%, from
43% in 2019.

 

Well-being, which is an important contributor to overall EX, continues
to be a priority for workers and is predicted to be a key trend for
organisations in 2021. A sense of belonging is of particular importance in the
context of well-being. Singapore employees who feel like they belong are more
than 4x more likely to rate their well-being favourably than those who feel
like they don’t belong (75% vs. 18%).

 

Despite this, only 56% of employees in Singapore rated their overall
well-being as favourable, down 13% from mid-2020, and below the global average
of 67%.

 

Lauren Huntington, EX Solutions Strategy, Qualtrics Southeast Asia,
said: “2020 has irreversibly changed the working world, and so it is
unsurprising we have seen engagement drivers shift considerably this year. As
businesses and governments look forward to 2021 we expect to see these
engagement drivers change once again as restrictions continue to change. To
ensure teams are provided with the support and services they need in fast
changing situations it is critical leaders are able to understand how emerging
trends are reshaping the workplace, and what they can do to design and improve
employee experience.”

 

“As a hybrid work arrangement takes
hold across the globe, it is important that organisations coach and equip their
frontline managers to effectively support their teams,” said Mayank Parekh,
CEO, Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP). “Organisations should take
a holistic view of the employee life cycle, leveraging data insights to deliver
a more compelling employee experience. This survey reinforces the vital role of
HR’s in building competency in areas such as employee belonging, collaboration
and ways of working, as well as supporting the well-being of employees.”

 

Listening up, positive action
down

 

According to the Qualtrics study, more than nine in 10 Singaporean
employees (93%) believe it’s important their company listens to feedback.
Compared to 12 months previously more employees are being listened to, with the
volume of respondents saying they have an opportunity to feedback increasing to
74% in 2020 (up from 65%). However, only 21% say their company acts on it very
well – which is a 4% decrease over the same period.

 

“While it’s pleasing to see more employers listening to their teams, the
study outlines the critical importance of acting on feedback. There is no one
size fits all approach to improving the employee experience. By capturing
responses from their teams across the entire employee lifecycle and in key
moments that matter, businesses are able to design improved experiences.”

 

“The business impact of listening and acting on feedback is huge. When
organisations do take action, scores increase across employee engagement (90%),
wellbeing (88%) and intent to stay (87%),” said Huntington. 

 

About the study

 

The 2021 Global Employee Experience Trends Report examined more than
11,800 full-time employees across 20 different countries around the world, to
find out what’s changed in employee experience, and what is driving employee
engagement in a post-COVID world. More than 330 respondents polled were
from Singapore.

 

To download the full 2021 Global Employee Experience Trends Report,
please click here.