Employee Engagement Outlooks in the Era of COVID-19: Implications for Human Resource Management

Abstract

The severe COVID-19 pandemic triggered an extraordinary global health crisis, resulting in an economic downturn and negative consequences for employees' work lives, especially employee engagement. An overview of how literature has been tackling the impact of COVID-19 on employee engagement is still missing. Hence, this article illustrates how literature has addressed the development and maintenance of employee engagement in various parts of the world due to the global health crisis. The report discusses individual and organizational roles in fostering employee engagement. The article provides general ideas for researchers interested in extending employee engagement studies under critical situations. It also highlights the consideration for human resource management in both individual and organizational contexts. As well, equips organizational leaders and human resource practitioners with productive and enabling power for informed decision-making about improving employee engagement of their workforce during the ongoing pandemic or other stressful events.