Research Survey: exploring post-pandemic employee welfare, wellbeing and employee engagement

Hi Gayathri, thank you for asking us to complete this.  I did try to do it but found that many of the questions ask about my organisation during and since the pandemic and as this is the second organisation I have worked in since the pandemic, I don't have sufficient knowledge of  how my current organisation worked before and during the pandemic to answer the questions. 

I notice that you do say that people should only complete the survey if they have worked in their organisation for 6 months or more.  In view of the questions you are asking, I wondered if you meant to say 6 years or more rather than 6 months as only people who have worked there for 6 years or more would have the knowledge to be able to answer the questions?

I hope his feedback is helpful and wish you every success in your research

Hi Teresa,

Thank you for the message and interest shown in this study. Actually it is asking questions on  post pandemic context  and not during pandemic as most work places introduced hybrid /remote working and certain welfare related initiatives  since then only which were not usual before  the new normal for most of the organisations. Therefore it is not necessary for you to have exposure in the same workplace you worked in the pandemic  period to answer this , but you can consider those welfare/wellbeing practices that your current organisation have for employees today.  6 month period is mentioned as a screening question since an employee needs to aware about their organisational cultute to understand  its HR practices. Hope this answers your question. Thank you again for your questions and interest. 

HI Gayathri, thank you for the clarification. it is the first three that I am struggling with as I just don't know whether the organisation 'responded effectively to employee need during the post pandemic recovery period' for example. However I have discovered that it will allow me to simply skip questions that I cannot answer, so I will do that and respond to the ones that relate to how the organisation operates now.

HI Gayathri, thank you for the clarification. it is the first three that I am struggling with as I just don't know whether the organisation 'responded effectively to employee need during the post pandemic recovery period' for example. However I have discovered that it will allow me to simply skip questions that I cannot answer, so I will do that and respond to the ones that relate to how the organisation operates now.

I understand your concern Teresa. Yes. You can avoid answering the questions you have not experienced in your current organisation. Thank you so much for your participation. I really appreciate it. I will make a note on the questions you are struggling so that I can mention them too in my study as limitations and it is very valuable insight for me for the study. 

Hello, I would add to Teresa's comments that I am also struggling with some of the questions. I am unsure how to interpret "post-pandemic" especially after your post here.

For example "Post-pandemic workplace policies are consistently implemented in my day-to-day work environment". Are you wanting the respondent to focus only on policies that are different post-pandemic compared with pre-pandemic (which I'd hope would be pretty much all as updates will have happened across 6 years!)? To consider only brand new policies that came in after the pandemic? Should we be considering only policies that we impacted/instigated because of the pandemic, as opposed to policies that are post-pandemic by coincidence? Or is the question is simply "workplace policies are consistently implemented...etc" and post-pandemic is just a statement of fact that we are currently post-pandemic and you want respondents to respond based on the past 6 years as a whole?

Similar to Teresa, I have been with my company for 3 years so have limited knowledge, and no first-hand knowledge, of their behaviour pre- or during the pandemic and would be unsure which policies (if any) were brought in or edited because of the pandemic. Equally there are some things (like hybrid working) which have come in as a result of the pandemic but we don't have policies for.

I am torn on whether to submit my responses or not because I'm not sure if they will be helpful based on me misinterpreting the questions and also possibly excluding info based on us not having a policy for it, if that isn't your intention!

Hi Sophie,

Thank you very much for taking the time to explain this so clearly. Your comments are very helpful, and I understand the distinction you are making regarding the interpretation of “post-pandemic”.

For the purpose of this study, participants are not required to have worked for their current organisation before or during the COVID-19 pandemic, nor are they expected to know precisely which organisational policies existed before the pandemic or were introduced specifically because of it.

The study uses the post-pandemic period as the context within which current workplace practices are being examined. Therefore, for statements concerning current workplace policies, welfare practices, organisational context, wellbeing and engagement, respondents should primarily answer based on their experience and perceptions of their current organisation.

Some questions relating specifically to the organisation's response during the post-pandemic recovery period may understandably be more difficult for employees who joined their organisation later. I appreciate you highlighting this attribute, as it is useful feedback regarding how those particular items may be interpreted.

The six-month service criterion is intended to ensure that participants have had sufficient exposure to their current organisation to form informed perceptions of its workplace culture and HR/welfare practices. It is not intended to require participants to have experienced the organisation before or during the pandemic.

Thank you again for raising this. I will document your feedback and discuss the interpretation of these items with my research supervisor. I particularly appreciate your concern about providing responses that accurately reflect what the study intends to measure.