Survey data: Employee Perspectives on the CX Priorities of Organisations as they Address the COVID-19 Emergency

11 min readApr 7, 2020

This survey is part of PH1 Research’s Initiative to ‘Improve the CX of Organisations Impacted by COVID-19.’ It began in early March 2020 and will continue with further research and several webinars:

As an effort to empower organisations across many industries to gain the knowledge and confidence to create a more proactive CX and EX in the face of future health emergencies, we are making the top-level data from our research available here, and more specific data as requested.

Between March 9 and April 1 this survey collected:

Responses: 315
Countries: 17 (Canada 53%; US 21%; Europe 18%, Asia-Pacific 6%)
Top industries: 30% Technology; 13% Consulting ; 8% Health; 7% Marketing, advertising, and communications; 7% Education; 7% Professional, scientific, and technical services
Organisation size: 46% Large Enterprise; 39% SME; 15% small business
Organisation’s dependance on customer interaction: 47% high; 28% medium; 26% low

Unfortunately there’s minimal data from the industries facing the biggest challenges — Retail Trade, Tourism & hospitality, Construction, Manufacturing, Wholesale trade. As we would see by the end of the month, those industries felt the shock first and were headed for unprecedented lay-offs.

Key indicators

Overall the responses represent a snapshot of when many organisations were first beginning to respond to COVID-19 —in many cases before the public state of emergency was fully recognized. In particular, the low perception of the economic shock and need for lay-offs illustrates how industries were not ready for how large of an impact COVID-19 would have.

Sentiment about the scale of the COVID-19 emergency: 6% severe; 26% serious; 37% moderate; 23% minor; 8% not an emergency
Impact on employee experience: #1 reduced sense of safety; #2 reduced productivity; #3 “none”
Words to describe how customers feel about COVID-19: #1 cautious about choices; #2 waiting until resolved; #3 staying home
Biggest change to customer behaviour: #1 reduced in-person visits; #2 increased questions; #3 reduced sales
Economic impact on your organisation so far: 2.38/5 (15% high; 26% medium; 58% low)
Expected economic impact on org by the end of 2020: 3.19/5 (35% high; 37% medium; 27% low)
Likelihood of org needing to lay-off staff by the end of 2020: 2.08/5 (16% high; 15% medium; 70% low)

Confidence in Reaction

Employees were generally satisfied with how their organisations reacted overall. Looking more specifically, they do believe that organisations could have better addressed the needs of employees and customers — though few considered the responses in those areas to be poor. While 84% of employees were satisfied with their employer’s response to the emergency, they generally believe that all —their employer, the private sector as a whole, and government agencies— will react differently when the next public health emergency occurs. This last point will become increasingly important as a second wave of COVID-19 becomes more widely projected to happen.

Customer/community satisfaction with org’s overall response: 87% yes; 13% no
Employee’s satisfaction with org’s overall response: 84% yes; 16% no
Health & Safety response: 77% good, 18% neutral; 5% bad
Corporate communications response: 69% good, 20% neutral; 10% bad
Employee experience response: 62% good, 27% neutral; 11% bad
Customer experience response: 56% good, 40% neutral; 4% bad

Thinking about the future and the next public health emergency

Should the org react differently: 28% yes; 72% no
Confidence that your org will react more effectively next time: 57% high; 34% medium; 9% low
Confidence that the private sector will react more effectively next time: 45% high; 40% medium; 15% low
Confidence that government agencies will react more effectively next time: 52% high; 29% medium; 19% low

Customer Experience Needs & Priorities

The CX perspective shows industries struggling to balance the needs of customers/community with their own organisation’s needs. Safety was a common link of what org’s prioritized, and indicates a commitment to the employee experience as much as the customer experience. From the customer’s perspective, flexibility was a clear #1 need and rightfully so given the tightening of restrictions that many businesses had placed on purchases, bookings, and contracts in recent years. While on the list, improved convenience was not a yet priority at this stage, and a reflection of optimism that ‘business as usual’ would win out in the end.

In a public health emergency, how should orgs balance the needs of customers/community with those of the organisation:

29% customer-centric; 46% balanced; 26% org-centric

What customers/community need most from orgs during COVID-19:

Flexibility with changes/cancellations
Positivity & optimism
Enhanced safety measures
Cancellation of in-person activities
Improved convenience (delivery, digital services, etc.)

What orgs have most prioritized during COVID-19:

Enhanced safety measures
Flexibility with changes/cancellations
Cancellation of in-person activities
Crisis response plan
Improved convenience (delivery, digital services, etc.)

Prioritized CX goals for the next public health emergency:

Increase flexibility
Increase sense of safety
Increase support
Increase transparency
Increase convenience

Customer Experience lessons based on how your organisation responded

Some orgs clearly planned in advance for a crisis, while many others are reacting on a day-to-day basis. The effectiveness of their CX and Employee Experience appears highly linked to the level of transparency within an org, the org’s desire and ability to be nimble, and the ways in which safety is at the core of all initiatives.

Top themes based on open-ended responses:

Transparency
Nimbleness
Prioritizing safety
Demonstrable leadership
Flexibility with work schedules/ location

Positive sentiment:

“We started out planning three weeks ago. No one on the leadership questioned the need to be ready early. Like insurance, don’t wait.”
“Working for a large government entity we have empowered employees to speak with stakeholders on an ad-hoc basis to address the many questions that are being raised daily. This will continue in the weeks to come, but our work is only just beginning and will get significantly greater.”
“My company announced yesterday that we are doing a 90-day free trial for our at home digital fitness product, which is incredible. It feels like we are all in this crisis together and I’m proud of the stance they took.”

Neutral sentiment:

“In future — I will use the ‘risk’ of something like covid to justify going digital, or investing in automation, AI, etc. It will help build the business case and motivate investment into more flexible and robust systems.”
“We literally haven’t done anything different, and most likely won’t. This does not have any effect on our SaaS business.”
“Thus far, we have been completely un-impacted by COVID-19. We do not rely on face-to-face interactions for any part of our business to operate effectively, both internally and externally.”

Negative sentiment:

“One lesson was that everything is reactive and not proactive. All of the activities that we are doing now could have been done when this all began.”
“Customers want more information and we cannot respond fast enough. The situation changes daily / rapidly and we are not nimble enough.”
“The emphasis in our public school district (k-12) has been on preparing for possible quarantine instructionally vs. prevention or awareness/education about the disease. It feels like the administrative response is prioritizing meeting state requirements vs. keeping people informed, responsible, and safe.”

Customer Experience in the face of a public health crisis: Recommended tools & approaches

The responses show that in a public health emergency delivering a strong customer experience depends on a commitment to a great employee experience. Because of the uncharted territory in moments of crisis the employees are often left reacting on-the-spot and become the single most important face of the brand.

Top themes based on open-ended responses:

Transparency
Customer action plan
Nimbleness
Prioritizing safety
Less reactive
Flexibility with work schedules/ location
Employee action plan
Invest in flexible systems
Well-known Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)
Demonstrable leadership

How to increase trust:

“Additional staffing to manage high volumes of customer inquiries and traffic; Solid and clear communication to instil trust in finances.”

How to increase transparency:

“Customers have asked us for our plan but I feel we should have been proactive with a plan. We should have been the ones to reach out to clients.”

How to increase support:

“This experience has shown me how outdated our current work agreements are. To better support staff in situations like this, updated plans with multiple options for scheduling need to be in place and reviewed annually. Technology needs to be upgraded and software to effectively do our jobs from home need to be purchased. This also means looking at the newest software available. Government lags on the tech side of getting our business done as efficiently as possible.”

How to increase sense of safety:

“Develop tools to negate misinformation.”
“Have PPE available. Have an all-hands meeting via online chat to answer questions and disseminate information. Have a ‘war chest’ set aside for such emergencies.”

How to increase flexibility

“As a mother to two children, I am now faced with school closures and lack of daycare spaces. The expectation is that I work full time from home and care for my children, 5 and 7. This now includes ensuring they are completing the required curriculum at their age level. Offering reduced hours would be a nice option to temporarily accommodate this tricky situation.”

How to increase convenience:

“Technology within the public sector is lacking. Systems have been bogged down as they were not built to accommodate the level of staff working virtually. Also, my hope is this crisis will show the need for the older generation to adapt in using modern technology to communicate instead of face-to-face, specifically in times such as these.”

How to increase community engagement:

“Mobilize trained people to help communities who are most vulnerable.”
“The current situation is unprecedented. I can only hope that we can develop a game plan of sorts for how we would roll out support programs, to whom, and under what conditions. No doubt we will make mistakes in this situation but there will be learning opportunities too.”

Analysis by country — current state

Sentiment and outlook about 2020 for org and lay-offs

Canadians expected COVID-19 to have a more serious and severe impact than the US and Europe, who considered it a moderate and minor emergency.

Only a handful of orgs experienced a high economic impact from COVID-19 in the first 3 weeks, with most Europeans indicating a low economic impact.

Americans were especially confident that the overall impact at the end of the year would be low. Canadians were bracing for a higher impact.

Respondents from Europe and the US did not expect their firms to need to lay-off staff by the end of the year.

Expectations of what customers need most in the current crisis

The three countries can’t agree on what customers need most, indicating a state of panic. Canadians are focused on strengthening relationships, Americans on action-oriented tactics, and Europeans on a sense of stability.

Analysis by country — future emergency

Canadians had the most confidence that their employer would react more effectively, followed by Europe and US.

Americans had the lowest confidence in their private sector responding more effectively in the future.

Americans are especially unconfident that their government agencies will react more effectively.

Top tools and lessons for a future public health emergency

When the next public health emergency strikes, all respondents agree that increased flexibility is critical —it should be noted that this will apply to both the customer experience and employee experience. While trust and transparency were not prioritized by respondents, these likely would rise if they were surveyed today, deeper into the emergency.

Survey — Challenges & Opportunities

Because this was collected in the midst of the World Health Organisation’s announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic and the start of economies locking down, data should be considered a snapshot of the pre-emergency response and not of the total impact.
The Coronavirus appears to have taken many organisations by surprise, both in terms of being taken seriously and in terms of unprepared leadership. Many orgs lacked disaster recovery plans and an adaptable CX and EX.
Getting data from the organisations most directly-impacted —Retail Trade, Tourism & hospitality, Construction, Manufacturing, Wholesale trade— is difficult and likely a result of the severity of the impact. Engaging them is essential to prepare for further public health emergencies.
Canadian, American, and Europeans reacted differently. Regionalised, systemic factors change the perceived threat level, customer needs, and strategic priorities. This must be a key consideration when planning for a 2nd wave of COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.
Some industries —technology most notably— view themselves as protected from the impact of this crisis. While their CX and EX models have more built-in flexibility they will likely face the trickle-down economic impact in Q2 as the P&L’s of their customers cease.
While this study was intended to analyze the customer experience of public and private sectors organisations, responses indicate that these two are symbiotic. Responses indicate that success in crisis is a direct result of employees operating within a system and an environment that promotes their ability to react and proactively plan for change.

Next steps

Public health emergencies like this are unprecedented and the data indicates as such. No macro research can do it justice and it is humbling to recognize that our work can only actually help organisations by drilling down into specific areas of crisis.

Looking back at how the world viewed COVID-19 in February and March, it is clear that everyone underestimated the impact it would have. Economically the damage is not done, with cascading impacts expected on various industries depending on the businesses who had to shutdown. More alarming is the increasing evidence from experts, predictive models, and historic records that there will be a second wave of COVID-19:

Washington Post: ‘The 1918 Spanish Flu hit the United States in 3 ways’
Nicholas A. Christakis: ‘The 1957 pandemic ended as people became immune over a period of three years’
Dr Anthony Fauci, who is spearheading the White House Coronavirus Task Force: ‘COVID-19 will reappear in a second wave in the October-November period’

Learn more about the next phases of this project in the overall strategy update document. Also, all insights collected will inform an educational series:

The above initiatives will be led by the CX Challenges community. Register for updates at http://cxchallenges.com

Want to help? Recommend business and organisational leaders working on the front lines of the most-impacted orgs. We will be interviewing them as part of further research.

PH1 Research is a very small team and while we need to focus our intended support, we welcome anyone else to contact us and request our anonymized data. This data was compiled by Brittany Hobbs and Art Assoiants.