New Study From Enboarder Reveals HR’s Pivotal Role in Solving Low Engagement and Connection in Distributed Workplaces

• Amid Increasing Overwhelm and Burnout, Enboarder’s Report Found 65% Of Employees Haven’t Changed a Behavior or Opinion Because of an HR Initiative in the Past Year

Enboarder, the world’s only People Activation Platform designed to inspire action and truly engage employees, enabling companies to transform their people programs into simple, science-based, human-centric journeys, revealed new research on HR’s evolving role amid the challenges of the remote and hybrid workplace and an increasingly disconnected, overwhelmed workforce.

The new report, “2021 People Insights Report: HR in the Age of Overwhelm,” surveyed 2,000 full-time employees from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, and found that employees are feeling the strain of new work arrangements: almost two-thirds (62%) of employees have used “burnt out” to describe their work in the last year. Despite these widespread feelings of overwhelm, HR departments have yet to adjust to this new normal, as 65% of employees say they haven’t changed a behavior or opinion because of an HR initiative over the past year.

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“The way HR has communicated with employees and attempted to drive engagement with its programs has historically been a challenge. Now, with employees more overwhelmed than ever before and hybrid environments leading to increasingly disconnected workplaces, HR is at risk of failure if it doesn’t change its approach,” said Brent Pearson, founder and CEO of Enboarder. “HR initiatives will continue to fall flat in driving change and engagement unless they incorporate the core components of people activation: ease, connection, engagement and nudge. By ensuring every HR program incorporates these critical elements of the People Activation model, employers can design initiatives that truly engage employees, empower them to take action and do their best work.”

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Other key findings from Enboarder new report include:

• Hybrid employees face unique collaboration and workplace challenges: Although 73% of employees say genuine collaboration takes more effort and planning today than it did before March 2020, hybrid employees are more likely to struggle. 64% of hybrid workers say it has become more difficult to keep everyone in the loop on projects or initiatives (compared to 56% of in-office and 49% of remote workers who said the same), while 66% worry they’re missing out on collaboration opportunities when they’re not in the office. Burnout is also more common among hybrid employees: 67% agree they used “burnt out” to describe work in the last year.
• Information overload is plaguing the workforce –– especially managers: 60% of managers say information overload keeps them from doing their job efficiently. In fact, more than half (55%) of managers say they need nights and weekends to think strategically about their jobs because they’re overwhelmed during the workday, while 61% receive 21 or more notifications in a day (compared to only 32% of entry-level workers).
• Remote and hybrid work are eroding employees’ sense of connection: More than two-thirds (67%) of employees agree it’s very difficult to create and maintain meaningful connections with coworkers virtually, and 69% don’t feel very connected to their coworkers today. But connection is key to motivating employees to do their best work: 82% of workers say they’re more motivated to work on a project or program when they feel close to the team and 84% find it easier to do their best work when they feel close to the team with whom they’re working.
• HR initiatives aren’t as effective as they could be: 65% of employees say they haven’t changed a behavior or opinion because of an HR initiative in the past 12 months, while more than a third (36%) of employees say they haven’t made the most of the L&D programs available at their organization. This is primarily due to four factors, according to Enboarder research: poorly timed communication, a lack of human connection, weak engagement and too much friction.

“Over the past 18 months, nearly everyone has had to adjust to new ways of working. Our data shows that employees are struggling, and HR can play a pivotal role in alleviating their feelings of stress and burnout to create a more engaged, connected and productive workforce,” said Pearson. “HR departments that redesign their programs and initiatives to incorporate the four pillars of People Activation will see higher employee engagement and measurable results, ultimately leading to happier employees and a more successful organization.”

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