The New Essentials: Working Lessons from a Year in the Pandemic study explores dramatic shifts in employee engagement expectations, focusing on what employees – both frontline and non-frontline workers – want from their company. The line between nice–to–have and necessary has defined “new essentials” that employers may not have considered before the pandemic. Now they must figure out which changes should last — and how they’ll deliver on them.

The New Essentials study identified six key truths that employers need to know to navigate the shifting landscape.

• Embrace the Ongoing Change – understanding how shifts in employee priorities can strengthen internal communications, engagement and recruitment.
• Welcome to the Living Workplace – how employers should look at a company through the lens of the employee experience.
• Vaccination Navigation – nuances in how employers should enact policies factoring in employee attitudes on vaccination.
• Elevate the Essential – considerations for employers as the frontline essential worker has risen in prominence.
• Employees Are Influencers – the critical role employees play as ambassadors within an organization.
• Transparency Plus Empathy – how the lines of communication between employer and employee have and must continue to evolve.

To learn more about these finding and implications, download the full report now.