Maintaining Employee Satisfaction During COVID19 - Karen Walker Johnson
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every facet of life for all human beings. Our environments have changed, and our relationships have been put at risk. Karen Walker Johnson of Centene Corporation ensured that her company took action to prevent employee shortcomings and strive to keep the company’s community spirit alive. Karen speaks on the specific changes her company implemented to address these issues.
“Our teams faced numerous challenges with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The staff was forced to work from home, they had low access to equipment which used to be easily available in the workplace, and career development plans were no longer addressed regularly.
“In order to tackle these challenges, we introduced many new things to help employees through this challenging phase. We increased communication via a weekly newsletter which included employee input, we held virtual events like town halls and social hours, ensured continuous execution of employee engagement plans, and had one-on-one skip-level meetings with the staff.
“The results of these measures were extremely positive. Our employee engagement survey reflected engagement scores ranging from 87% to 93%, which is well above the industry average. The leadership index scores were 85% to 95%, again, above the industry average.
“In conclusion, despite the challenges our teams faced with COVID, they remained engaged and encouraged. Employees felt that we demonstrated the leadership we needed in order to execute our business objectives.”
