Annual report finds top engagement drivers shifted significantly during 2020

HONG KONGSAR - Media OutReach - 8 February 2021 - New research released today by Qualtrics, theleader in employee experience (EX) and creator of the experiencemanagement (XM) category, has revealed significant shifts to the drivers ofemployee engagement in Hong Kong in 2021.

According to the 2021 Hong Kong Employee Experience Trends Report, four of the top five employeeengagement drivers changed over the last year. Feeling organisational changesare managed well, having in place processes allowing employees to be asproductive as possible, and resources to explore new ideas emerged as the newtop three drivers of engagement in the country. Open and honest communication,and confidence in senior leadership - last year's top driver - completed thetop five.

The engagement drivers to drop out of the top five were a clear linkbetween work and the company's strategic objectives, managers who helpemployees with career development, opportunities for learning and development,and recognition for good work.

Employee engagement down in Hong Kong  

While global employee engagement levels rose 13% in the last year (66%in 2020 vs. 53% in 2019), engagement of employees in Hong Kong fell to 57% in2020, from 63% in 2019.

An important contributor to overall employee experience, well-beingcontinues to be a priority for workers across the globe and is predicted to bea key trend for organisations in 2021. Among employees in Hong Kong, more thansix in 10 (62%) rated their well-being as favourable, just below the global average(67%). Most notably, a sense of belonging at an organisation has the greatestimpact on overall wellbeing. Employees in Hong Kong who feel like they belongare more than 3x as likely to rate their well-being favourably (80% vs 26%).

Lauren Huntington, EX Solutions Strategy, Qualtrics Southeast Asia,said: "2020 has irreversibly changed the working world, and so it isunsurprising we have seen engagement drivers shift considerably this year. Asbusinesses and governments look forward to 2021 we expect to see theseengagement drivers change once again as restrictions continue to change. Toensure teams are provided with the support and services they need in fastchanging situations it is critical leaders are able to understand how emergingtrends are reshaping the workplace, and what they can do to design and improveemployee experience."

The importance of action

According to the Qualtrics study, more than nine in 10 employees in HongKong (90%) believe it's important their company listens to feedback, anincrease of 24% from 12 months previously. However, the number of employeessaying they've an opportunity to feedback decreased to 56% (vs 81% in 2019),with just 14% saying their employee acts on feedback well (vs 53% in 2019).

"Listening, understanding, and acting on employee feedback is nowcritical in Hong Kong. By capturing responses from their teams across theentire employee lifecycle and in key moments that matter, businesses are ableto design and improve experiences."

"The business impact of listening and acting on feedback is huge. Whenorganisations do take action, scores increase across employee engagement (92%),wellbeing (93%) and intent to stay (94%)," said Huntington. 

About the study

The 2021 Global Employee Experience Trends Report examined more than11,800 full-time employees across 20 different countries around the world, tofind out what's changed in employee experience, and what is driving employeeengagement in a post-COVID world. More than 210 respondents polled werefrom Hong Kong.

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

About Qualtrics

Qualtrics, the leader in employee experience and creator of theExperience Management (XM) category, is changing the way organizations manageand improve the four core experiences of business----customer, employee, product,and brand. Over 12,000 organizations around the world are using Qualtrics tolisten, understand, and take action on experience data (X-data™)----the beliefs,emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to doabout it. The Qualtrics XM Platform™ is a system of action that helps businessesattract customers who stay longer and buy more, engage employees who build apositive culture, develop breakthrough products people love, and build a brandpeople are passionate about. To learn more, please visit qualtrics.com.