For the past six weeks since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak nationwide, Quantum Workplace tracked several key workplace measures since both employees and employers have been addressing and dealing with three massive workplace changes: 1) the need for employee safety; 2) a workplace that went remote overnight; and, 3) the economic aftermath of the great lockdown. This survey afforded Quantum Workplace and its customers great insights in what is working and what is not in American businesses during this critical time in history.
Approximately 40,000 respondents across 33 Quantum Workplace customer companies answered a range of questions about working remotely, via a web/online invite or surveys, which were often open for a one-week time, and revealed these major results*:
- Only 4% of employees said that working remote has a major impact on their day-to-day performance, with 58 percent stating no impact and 38% stating some impact
- 62% of employees believe working remote positively affects engagement
- Remote employees are proven to be more productive:
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- 77% of remote employees confirmed improved productivity
- 52% said they are less likely to take time off
- 30% reported accomplishing more in less time
- 23% said they are willing to work for longer hours to get more done
- On average, 9 out of 10 employees (90 percent) strongly agreed with the statement, “I feel well supported by my organization at this time”
- On average 9 out of 10 employees (90 percent) strongly agreed with the statement, “The communication from leaders helps me feel informed”
It was also determined that many employees do not have experience working remotely. As part of this process, in a survey of 1,000+ employees nationwide, many showed a preference to work from home. In reality, nearly 40% of employees never worked remotely while 16% only had done so a few times a year. Overall, more than half of employees are typically in the office mostly every day.
“The better managers become at listening, the more agile they will be in helping maintain corporate cultures, stabilizing businesses and ensuring teams return to a path for productivity and growth. The ways in which we may have communicated with team members in the past now needs to shift. However, managers must take the initiative to dial up the frequency of their communication. Our daily lives have changed dramatically in the past 60 days, and this has transitioned into our corporate cultures. Company strategies are being adjusted while talent management models continue to evolve again, too. Service models are also being tweaked. A strong employee listening strategy keeps all these change efforts on track and better positions companies for success – during and on the heels of the pandemic,” stated Greg Harris, co-founder and chief executive officer at Quantum Workplace.
“By closely studying employee perceptions weekly over the past six weeks, Quantum Workplace helped identify employees’ perceptions of their managers and organizations during this difficult time. It was an excellent opportunity for us to get pulse on this, and it truly benefitted our clients, too. We all learned a lot and will continue to apply this knowledge to better listening, improving the workplace and enhancing corporate culture,” Harris said.
Quantum Workplace, a human resources technology provider, delivers modern tools for employee success that high-performance organizations have come to rely upon. Nearly 20 years ago, the Company pioneered some of the earliest employee engagement and performance software, and has since partnered with thousands of organizations to elevate employee, team, and business success. Quantum Workplace helps leaders connect the dots between engagement and performance with intuitive and user-friendly tools including comprehensive and automated employee surveys; goal setting and tracking tools; peer-to-peer recognition; real-time feedback; continuous one on one conversations; smart talent reviews; and, robust people analytics. The Company was named among the most significant employee experience (EX) management platforms by Forrester Research in its Q1 2020 report.
With 9,000 organizations surveyed annually, Quantum Workplace has grown into North America’s largest database of employee engagement data—through its core engagement and performance platform and nationally recognized Best Places to Work program.
