Qualtrics’ Employee Experience Trends reveals top drivers of employee engagement in Malaysia in 2021

Annual report finds engagement drivers shifted in 2020

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media
OutReach – 23 March 2021 – New research released today by Qualtrics
(Nasdaq: XM), 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 Malaysia in 2021.

 

According to the 2021 Malaysia Employee Experience Trends Report, feeling
that my career goals can be met and being
proud of the company’s efforts to have a positive impact on the world
emerged as the top two drivers of employee engagement. Confidence in senior leadership to make the right decisions, feeling a sense of purpose from work,
and feeling a sense of belonging
rounded out the top five.

 

In contrast, last year’s engagement drivers were receiving recognition for good work, seeing a clear link between work
and strategic objectives, opportunities for learning and development, manager
support in career development, and confidence in senior leadership to make the
right decisions.

 

Employee engagement in
Malaysia increased

 

Despite the challenges faced by businesses and government in 2020,
overall levels of employee engagement in Malaysia increased to 67% in 2020,
from 54% 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 was 71%.

 

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. Employees who feel like they belong are almost 5x more
likely to rate their well-being favourably than those who feel like they don’t
belong (78% vs. 16%).

 

Two-thirds (65%) of employees in Malaysia rated their overall well-being
as favourable, which is just under the global average of 67%.

 

Lauren Huntington, EX Solutions Strategy, Qualtrics Southeast Asia,
said: “2020 irreversibly changed the working world, and globally we saw
engagement drivers shift considerably last year. As businesses and governments
look forward to 2021 we expect to see these engagement drivers evolve 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.”

 

Uncovering the experience
gap

 

According to the Qualtrics study, 93% of employees believe it’s
important their company listens, with 80% saying they have the opportunity to
feedback. However, only 34% say their company acts on feedback well.

 

“While it’s pleasing to see 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 (87%) 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. 292 respondents polled were from Malaysia.

 

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