2021 Employee
Experience Trends
The HR leader’s guide to thetrends shaping the future of
employee experienceEmployee Experience:
A global snapshot
We surveyed more than 11,800 full-time employees from 20 countries to see how the employee
experience has changed in 2020. As well as showing what the experience looks like in 2020, it
highlights key areas employers can focus on in 2021 to have the biggest impact on their people.
Engagement score66%+13 v 2019

Listening to feedback regularly

69%+6 v 2019

Intent to stay70%
+17 v 2019

Taking action on feedback27%-7 v 2019

In this report, we’ll delve deeper into the drivers behind these changes and explore the employee
experience landscape of the world’s workforce as we enter 2021 and beyond.

2Foreword:
The year of
belonging
DEI initiatives are top of mind

People need to feel like they belong

Work-life balance
fueled3

Despite the challenges of balancing work and home life, we
found good news among the chaos. Overall, global employee
engagement has risen. And leaders are listening more to
their people.
However, despite listening more, leaders are not actioning
the feedback they’re getting. And this unfortunately can domore harm than not listening at all.
Next steps
All organizations are different, and all the people within them
have diﬀerent needs. There is no-one-size-ﬁts-all solution for
fostering belonging in the workplace. What’s important is tolisten to what your individual people need – and mostimportantly, action that feedback to meet those needs.

Jay Choi

EVP and GM of EmployeeXM,
Qualtrics

4Meet our experts
LEAD AUTHORS

Lindsay Johnson, PhD
XM Scientist, AMER

Yesenia Cancel, MSc
XM Scientist, AMER

Marcus Wolf, MA
XM Scientist, AMER

CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
Thivia Mogan, MSc
XM Scientist, AMER

Rebecca Masson, PhD
XM Scientist, AMER

Jake Outram, MSc
XM Scientist, EMEA

Cecelia Herbert, PhD
XM Scientist, APJ

Antonio Pangallo, PhD
XM Scientist, APJ

Tika Wadhwa, MA
XM Scientist, AMER

Sarah Marrs, MSc
Product Scientist, EMEA

Anne Raeven, MA
XM Scientist, EMEAA

Laura Harding, MSc
Product Scientist, EMEA

Melissa McMahan, PhD
Product Scientist, AMERR

Lauren Rice, PhD
XM Scientist, AMER

Vanessa Kowollik, PhD
XM Scientist, EMEA

Tara Di Domenico, MA
XM Scientist, AMER

5

Contents
7/

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE IN 2020
8/

Employee engagement

9/

Intent to stay

10/ What’s driving engagement?

13/ IMPROVING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCEIN YOUR ORGANIZATION
15/ Employee well-being
20/ Taking action on feedback
26/ Manager effectiveness29 / METHODOLOGY

6

Employee
Experiencein 2020

Employee engagement:
Can we keep improving into 2021?
Despite the challenges of 2020, employee engagement has increased.

Engagement

2019

2020

The level of employee engagement went up by
13 points in 2020 compared to 2019.
66%

53%

+13 pts“When leadership is visible and regularly
communicates in a trustworthy way we see
engagement rise. Plus, when managers support
their employees and listen, as well as act, on their
feedback, engagement is strong. Even in times oforganizational disruption.”
Vanessa Kowollik, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

How we measure employee engagement
2020 has been a year of seismic change. The way
the world works, lives and relates has profoundly
shifted, maybe for good. And yet in a time oforganizational disruption and physical separation,
employee engagement has grown. Our data shows aleap in engagement from 53% in November 2019 to
66% in November 2020.

Engagement is a composite score of five main factors:
1/ Discretionary effort – the desire to go aboveand beyond
2/ Pride in work and the organization
3/ Advocacy for the organization
4/ Feelings of accomplishment from work
5/ Intention to stay8

Intent to stay:
How 2020 uncertainty will affect 2021
During 2020, employees’ intent to stay 3 years or more in their current company went up by 17 points.
Intent to stay is highest at executive levels

The percentage of people who say they’reintending to stay in their position varies by job role

Executives expressed the highest levels of intent tostay (83%) and were also the most engaged (85%)
compared to those less senior.

2019

2020

Intent to stay

70%

53%

Intent to stay by job role
+17 pts

The percentage of people who say they’reintending to stay in their position varies by job role
Individual
contributor
Manager/leader ofindividual contributors

It may be that this boost in intent to stay
directly reflects higher levels of engagement,a reduction in job opportunities or simply apreference for the known versus the unknown
at a time of crisis.
Marcus Wolf, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

9

66%
73%

Leader ofleaders

83%

Executive

83%

What’s driving employee engagement?
Enduring engagement drivers like listening andfeeling supported have remained stable during theupheavals of 2020. But we have also seen somemajor shifts in what powers engagement.
Decades of research showed that drivers likeconfidence in senior leadership and opportunities
for learning development were key drivers of
employee engagement.

But in the midst of a global crisis, concerns aroundenvironmental and ethical practices, plus reignited
discussion around racial injustice, new drivers haveemerged – and soared straight to the top of what
influences employee engagement.

Corporate Social Responsibility
Belonging

I am proud of this company’s efforts tohave a positive impact on the world

I feel as if I belong at this company

Career goals
Adapting to change

Overall, I feel that my career goals
can be met at this company

I feel supported in my efforts toadapt to organizational changes

Confidence in leadershipI have confidence in the senior leadership team tomake the right decisions for the company

Learning & development

I have good opportunities to learn
and develop at this company
Learn how to improve the employee
experience with our ultimate guide.

10

Learn moreBelonging and CSR take center stage
Across our research before and during the
pandemic, we’ve seen two new items emerge as thestrongest drivers of employee engagement – a senseof belonging, and a sense of pride in the company’sefforts to have a positive impact on the world.
A 73% majority of employees feel a sense of
belonging at their organization.
In last year’s report, the two leading drivers
were confidence in senior leadership (53%) andopportunities for learning and development (60%).

In the wake of a pandemic, calls for racial
justice, and unprecedented change, it’s evenmore important for your people to feel they
have the space to be their authentic selves.
And not only that, but what they’re a part of ishaving a positive impact on the world. It makes
sense that these ideals are becoming integral tothe employee experience.
Lindsay Johnson, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

Belonging is highly correlated to engagement.
20% of employees who feel they don’t belong areengaged, vs. 91% of those who feel they do – that’s
3.5x more.
“We all know what it feels like to belong, or to fit
in with others. Feeling like you can be your uniqueand authentic self at work and also connectedto those around you fulfills our core need toform and maintain strong, stable interpersonal
relationships with others.”
Cecelia Herbert, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

11How can you boost belonging?
Belonging and pride in CSR are more closely
connected than you might expect. Pride in CSR
has a strong impact on a sense of belonging, as doopen and honest communication, being valued aspart of a team, and feeling supported in adapting toorganizational change.

Employee engagement + belonging
When we look at the employee engagementscores for those who feel like they belong vsthose who don't, it's clear how big an impact it
has:

81%
Feel likethey belong

What influences belonging?
Our study showed there were four key factors that
influence people’s sense of belonging:
1/ I am proud of this company’s effort to have apositive impact on the world
2/ There is open and honest communication at
this company

15%

Don’t feel likethey belong

3/ I feel like a valued member of my teamIn our research we found one thing that had a big
influence on belonging: manager effectiveness.

4/ I feel supported in my efforts to adapt toorganizational changes There is open andhonest communication at this company

Empowering managers can have a powerfulknock-on effect, which improves belonging andengagement.

Find out more about manager effectiveness

12

Learn more

Improving employee
experience in yourorganization

Improving employee experiencein your organization
The key drivers of employee engagement shifted significantly during 2020.
In this section we’ll look at three areas that, based on our study, can have thebiggest impact on the people in your organization in 2021:

1/ Employee well-being
In 2020 employee well-being rose to become a core metric of our engagement
model and is a major area organizations can focus on as they continue to facedisruption in 2021.

2/ Taking action on feedback
Asking for feedback is just the start — not taking action on it is worse forengagement than not asking for it in the first place. Closing that gap should be apriority in 2021.

3/ Manager effectivenessManagers play a huge role in helping with engagement, well-being, belonging,resilience - in fact almost every key driver we’ve looked at. In 2021, make sure
sure your managers have the support they need to improve the experience for
their teams.
Want to improve the experience for your people?

14

Book a demo

1/ Employee well-beingEmployee well-being
Well-being is an essential part of the employee
experience, particularly in times of disruption.
In 2020, it became a major focus for mostorganizations, and alongside engagement andenablement, became a core outcome of ourengagement model.

How do we define well-being?
We measure well-being using a 5-point system ofindicators:
1/ Feeling calm at work
2/ Feeling energized at work
3/ Rarely feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities at work67%

of employees worldwide rated
their well-being favorably.

Only 67% of respondents rated their wellbeing favorably. This highlights how critical it
is to avoid burnout as we continue to live withuncertainty.
Yesenia Cancel, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

16

4/ Feeling positive about yourself at work
5/ Having trusting relationships at workWell-being by job role
As with resilience and intent to stay, we can see thatwell-being increases along with seniority. Those at
the top rate their well-being 26 points higher thanthe most junior employees.
They also feel a greater sense of belonging thanmore junior colleagues.
Just 60% of individual and contributor-level
employees reported their well-being favorably,compared to 87% of executives at VP level andabove.
Well-being by job role
The percentage of people who reportfavorable well-being
Individual contributor

Manager/leader ofindividual contributors
Leader of leaders

Executive
17

In our 2020 Resilience Report, we saw a similar
trend in perception of support for work-life balance,with 20 points between the senior leadership andtrainee/intern level employees.

Employee well-being remains critical asorganizations continue to recover from this timeof disruption. Whether it’s providing flexibility
to employees as they juggle work and personal
responsibilities, supporting employees as theyattend to any family health concerns, or justtaking the time to listen to employees’ concerns,
it’s a necessity at this time for organizations tocare and support employees’ well-being.
When organizations care for their employees,
the employees will in turn show care anddedication to their work and the organization.

60%

Lauren Rice, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

72%
82%
87%

Well-being and belonging
Once again, a sense of belonging has a positiveeffect on an important aspect of employee
experience – well-being.
People who feel like they belong are three times
as likely to have a greater sense of well-being:

78% 28%of people who feel likethey belong at theirorganization rate theirwell-being favorablyof people who feellike they don’t belong
rate their well-being
favorably

If we care about our employees and employee
well-being at all, fostering an inclusive work
environment is not only important but nonnegotiable. In order for employees to feel likethey belong, employers must demonstrate theycare with actions.
Treating employees with respect, actively
listening and recognizing their contributions areways to show employees they matter. We cannot
expect employees to be well, let alone thrive, in a
toxic workplace.
Thivia Mogan, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

What impacts employee well-being?
Our study found the 5 key factors that impact our wellbeing at work are:1/ I feel as if I belong at this company
2/ I can be myself at work
3/ I feel like a valued member of my team
4/ I feel I belong on my team
5/ I’m treated with respect
18

Do employees with families fare better?

Well-being by family situation

Our data suggests that single people are less likely
to report a sense of well-being at work comparedto their colleagues who live with family. It’s been atough year for those with children, but our researchsuggests their sense of belonging may not be as
impacted as those who live alone.

The percentage of people who reportfavorable well-being

Employees who live alone may have got some of
their sense of belonging and community from theircolleagues and friends. With that stripped away they
may be more vulnerable than those with families tolosing their sense of belonging. This could also be
why junior employees feel their well-being isn’t asrobust, as they may be less likely to have families.

Married/living with a partnerwith dependent children

72%

Married/living with a partnerwith no dependent children

68%Single with dependent children

66%

Single with nodependent children

58%

One takeaway for HR and People Teams could be
how quickly they can a return to a physical office inorder to recreate a sense of community.
However, there is no one-size fits all solution. All
organizations are different, and all the people withinthem have different needs. What’s important is tolisten to what your individual people need. And thenact on that feedback.

Want to improve the experience for your people?
19

Book a demo

2/ Taking action on feedback

Taking action on feedback
Organizations are starting to recognize the value ofasking employees for feedback. But are they taking
the next step and turning that feedback into action?

92%

believe it’s important
their company listens
to feedback

but only

7%

21

Employers are listening more
In last year’s report, 63% of employees felt they
had an opportunity to provide feedback. This year
it's 69%. However, when we asked the samequestion in Q2 2020, only 51% said they had theopportunity to provide feedback. This shows a dip
in listening during the first wave of the pandemic.
My company listens to me

say their company
acts on feedback
really well.

The percentage of people who feel their company
listens to them.

63%

51%

69%

2019

Mid-2020

2020

How often are employers asking for feedback
How often companies ask for feedback changed in
response to the pandemic. Although we saw a rise infrequency during the height of the crisis in our mid2020 Resilience Report, figures have reverted tolevels similar to what we saw in our 2020 Employee
Experience Trends Report (Data collected, Q42019). Only 10% now say they’re invited to provide
feedback once a week or more.
Asking for feedback regularly
The percentage of people who say they are asked
to provide feedback regularly
November 2020

45%
62%

May 2020
November 201946%

But while listening is a good place to start, whatmatters more is taking action on the feedback
you receive.
This is where businesses have a lot of room toimprove. Since 2019, companies have become
worse at acting on feedback, according to theirpeople.

The response to the COVID pandemic broughta steep change in employee listening. Manyorganizations quickly pivoted to send out
frequent pulse surveys in order to support
employees with well-being and work-safetyissues.
This has raised the awareness and appetite
for agile employee listening with both leaders
and their people.
Jake Outram, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

22

The feedback-action gap
Employees feel that acting on feedback mattersmore than ever. But companies aren’t closing the
gap between feedback and action.
Only 7% felt that their employer acted on feedback“extremely well”.
Employees aren’t getting the chance to give
feedback as much as they would like. And when
they do, organizations aren’t acting on it as well as
they should.

69%

have an opportunity
to give feedback

23

27%

think their company
actions feedback very
well or extremely well

While data shows the perception thatcompanies are either not taking action or not
acting well on feedback has increased, it may
be there is a disconnect between action and theperception of action. A good way to mitigate
this is by communicating actions that havecome as a result from the feedback provided toclose the feedback loop.
Yesenia Cancel, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

Why acting on feedback matters
Turning feedback into action has a direct, positiveeffect on the employee experience. As the numberof employees who feel their company takes action
on feedback increases, so does their intent to stayand their engagement.
How taking action on feedback impacts
intent to stay

80%

40%

Average engagement without listening program

In fact, our data shows that listening without taking
action actually results in worse engagement than if
you don’t have a listening program at all.

45%

51%
69%

2020
high on taking action

24

42%

These trends have held true across our 2019 and2020 data.

64%

20%
0%

Average engagement with listening program

In fact, when employees feel a company acts on
feedback well, their engagement is more thandouble that of workers who feel it’s not acted onor acted on only slightly.

100%

60%

70%

low on taking action

Action and well-being
Employees rate their well-being more favorably
when they feel their employer is good at taking
action on their feedback
How taking action on feedback
impacts well-being
100%
80%

86%

Anne Raeven, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

60%
40%

One finding that has remained constant acrossall three of our studies is the moderating
effect that taking action on feedback has on
engagement. Companies need to ensure thatoice
they are showing their employees that their v65%
matters by taking action. If you’re not taking
action and closing the feedback loop, employees
won’t see improvement on engagement drivers.
As the data is showing, this can lead to53%
lessengaged employees, and employees who could
eventually stop providing feedback.

53%

20%
0%

2020
high on taking action

low on taking action

Want to improve the experience for your people?
25

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3/ Manager effectivenessManager effectiveness
It’s no surprise that managers have a pivotal role toplay in making the employee experience what it is –for better or worse.
Managers and belonging
Looking at the data for belonging, we can see thatmanagers directly influence this feeling in theirteams. Feeling supported in being able to adapt
to organizational changes is one of the top 5
influences on having a sense of belonging.
Feeling valued as part of a team and having open
communication matter a lot too – both qualities
that managers can embody in their behavior andreward in their teams.

Managers continue to play a pivotal rolein organizations – this was especially thecase during the pandemic where the roleof managers became even more critical tosupporting and helping their team members
adapt quickly and overcome challenges.
As the champion for their employees, managers
help people understand the connection fromtheir work to the company’s strategy, build
connections to others in the organization, andrecent data also suggests impacts directly on
employee belonging.
Lindsay Johnson, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

27

Managers and taking action
We’ve seen that when employees feel theircompany is good at turning feedback into action,
their engagement, wellbeing and intent to stay
all rise. Managers hold the key to communicating
about action and change, and making the link
between individual feedback and company-wide
action.
Promoting great experiences at every level
Our data shows a consistent trend – those atleadership level enjoy better engagement, resilience,well-being and intent to stay relative to their juniorcolleagues.

Managers have a critical role in helping
translate the ‘why’ behind changes happening in
the organization and constantly pointing backto those changes being a response to employee
feedback.
A single conversation a month later doesn’t
convince employees that the organization takes
their feedback seriously. When your people
take the time to give you feedback it’s usually
the case that they want to help make change
happen.
Marcus Wolf, XM Scientist, Qualtrics

Could manager behaviors like open communicationand support in weathering change help to level theplaying field?

28

Want to improve the experience for your people? Book a demoMethodology

Methodology
The study was conducted in October and November 2020,
included 11,864 respondents 18 years of age or older who werecurrently employed full-time.
Demographics
This study examined employees across 20 countries andregions. The breakdown of respondents can be seen in thetable below.

30

			

6.52%
2.28%
6.74%
6.74%
6.74%
6.74%
6.75%
1.80%
0.26%
6.74%
3.37%
2.82%
2.08%
2.83%
2.49%
6.74%
2.84%
2.92%
6.48%
16.07%

Study respondents come from a wide variety of industries:
Automotive
Construction or Commercial Development
Educational Services
Finance or Insurance
Forestry, Fishing, Hunting, or Agriculture Support
Healthcare or Social Assistance
Hospitality/Accommodation or Food Services
Information Services or Technology
Life Sciences or Pharma
Management of Companies or Enterprises
Manufacturing
MiningOther Government/Public Sector
Professional Services (e.g., legal, advertising)
Real Estate or Rental and Leasing
Retail or Consumer Packaged Goods
Telecommunications
Transportation or Warehousing
Utilities or Energy
Wholesale Trade

31

2.70%
1.90%
8.73%
10.17%
0.37%
9.74%
2.70%
7.66%
1.42%
0.94%
10.14%
0.37%
15.45%
2.13%
0.73%
9.91%
4.27%
4.85%
2.54%
2.69%

The study examined influencing factors including age, tenure,and job roles amongst others. These are broken down in thetables below:
Age:
Under 20
20-24
25-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60 and overI prefer not to answer

0.49%
5.50%
10.70%
29.21%
25.19%
19.70%
9.17%
0.05%

Tenure:Less than 1 year
At least 1 year, but less than 2 years
At least 2 years, but less than 3 years
At least 3 years, but less than 5 years
At least 5 years, but less than 10 years
10 years or more

4.99%
7.45%
8.90%
16.20%
22.22%
40.23%

Gender:FemaleMale
Non binary / transgender / third gender
I prefer not to answer
I prefer to self describe

50.09%
49.54%
0.18%
0.08%
0.12%

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