Employee Engagement in the Pandemic & Beyond

BY: SACHIN LAKHANI, CCM, CQM, CPM, JACOBS

The Covid-19 virus has been part of our lives over the past year, and it will be part of our lives for the foreseeable future. The past year has also seen how technology has overtaken (or should we say taken over) our lives, the way we work, and the way we see the world. With technology intervention on an unprecedented scale, human interaction and in-person engagement decreased and are continuing to decline. This trend applies in our world of Construction. However, the Construction industry is not averse to changes; hence, we have and will continue to embrace this technology crusade.

With technology changes and the lessening of human interaction, the role of leadership and employee engagement should not be reduced. Employee engagement is a state of mind held by individuals and is characterized by active involvement in activities, commitment to project success, and the team. The role of leadership/management to increase employee engagement should be at the forefront during this new phase of technology change.

Increased employee engagement should be a high priority for Project Managers, Construction Managers, and Organization Leaders. Engagement is important in project teams because engagement has been shown to positively affect successful project performance. As project and team leaders, it is important to foster a working environment that creates conditions for these positive behavioral outcomes. When employees are engaged, the team is successful.

The recent changes, pandemic fears, and technology challenges have understandably created some disconnect between employees and their supervisors/leadership, especially when it comes to communication. We all must put more emphasis on engagement as an organization during this pandemic.

Some of the areas we all can work on improving employee engagement are by conducting more online and offline Town Halls, Site Visits, Site HSE visits, Safety Stand Downs, Encouraging Increased Employee Engagement, Video Conference Luncheons, Project Leadership Engagement, and Organization Leadership Engagement (emails, video sharing messages, site videos), Email messages with staff photos, etc.

It is no secret we've been more globally connected than ever this past year. Let us work as a community to ensure this is true in our World of Construction Management!