2020 was undoubtedly a challenging year for us all, but even more so if you were in an HR or People team tasked with managing an employee engagement plan. Chances are you’ve had to navigate furlough schemes, organise remote working and introduce new wellbeing initiatives. And that’s on top of your day job.

As organisations sign off 2021 budgets, what should your focus be when it comes to your employee engagement plan for the year?

Here’s our take:

  • It’s important that you don’t throw your previous employee engagement plan out the window. It might have been on pause for a while, but you need to keep running your onboarding programmes, recognition schemes, diversity and inclusion events etc. You might have to approach them a little differently, but this is what will set you up for success in the post-pandemic world.
  • Celebrate your people and their stories. It is not only a valuable way of recognising employees who have gone above and beyond but is also a good way to show how your business has managed the pandemic (so far!).
  • Send out communications with a personal touch. Can you factor in sending a physical postcard or gift? Especially in the age of remote working, receiving a tangible connection to your workplace post can really brighten up someone’s day. It’ll have greater impact and help get your message across.
  • Help your people managers. They aren’t comms professionals by trade and they’ve had a tough year too. Let them know you’re there for them, listen to the feedback they’re getting and support them wherever you can.

To sum up, it’s likely your 2021 employee engagement plan will look a little different to previous years. Don’t panic, consider how to deploy it in a human way, and press ‘un-pause’!

Have a read here of how we helped Inspired Villages with their Covid employee engagement in 2020.