September 10, 2020 BY WorkSocial Press and Editorial
The time to deeply engage with employees has never been more important and relevant, than in today’s self-isolation and social distancing times. The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the ways companies conduct business and how employees can work and contribute to their growth.
Travel restrictions have made work from home and meetings via online video conferencing the new norm, with face to face interactions being scheduled only for very important issues. Employees are undergoing fear, anxiety, and depression about the uncertainty that the pandemic brings, getting exposed to it and spreading it to loved ones.
As per a survey conducted by Gallup US, 81% of the employees expect a negative effect on their workplace due to COVID-19. All these factors are gradually making employees less productive and motivated in managing the flow of work and keeping the businesses running.
How to keep employees engaged at work is the key question many company owners and departmental heads are facing today, with the survival of their company in some cases being dependent on it. During the time of crisis, strongest organisations are those that are finding innovative ways to engage and motivate their employees.
Employee engagement needs to no longer be restricted as an activity by the human resources team, but shared as an equal responsibility by the entire company. As a part of their employee engagement strategy, companies can follow these 9 key steps, to keep employees engaged and motivated so that they can develop a highly motivated and inspired organization.
The top line managers are those who are directly in touch with their team and understand their situations better. Making them responsible to keep the employee engaged and motivated, will help develop a better working bond which will make the employees feel more connected and cared for by their company.For this to be effective, top-line managers need to schedule at least 5-10% of their work hours on interactive sessions which discuss the issue i.e. how to keep your team engaged and motivated and then follow-up the same with practical implementation.
While not working from home, employees tend to lose a sense of belonging. A research by Hubspot indicated that 69% of employees have reported to work harder if they are better appreciated. The management can increase their involvement and engagement by creating a virtual office, building a forum where employees can share their personal and professional updates, assign collaborative tasks with fun games and quizzes, motivating them by giving away perks, recognition and incentives.
Working from home has its challenges right from cooking up meals to taking care of children and assisting them with their school work, which would ideally not have been the case had the parents been at their workplace.However, since the times have changed, companies need to adapt and ensure that they don’t impose strict working hours or login times on their employees, but trust them enough, to complete their work as required.
Remember the birthday parties and coffee get-together in the office, and their importance when building employee bonding. Well, they are still highly effective, it’s just that the locations have changed. Schedule an online coffee meet and even celebrate employee birthdays online, to make them realize that the times may have changed, but they are still special for you.
With lock-downs in place and strict scheduling of the times that essential items will be available, make sure you are not too rigid with your team on their word days or hours. Give them the freedom to select their work hours, so that they can also safely buy all the essentials they require for their home.The flexibility you offer your employees with their working times will show that you relate to their situation and are there to help them get through it as one team.
One way you could do this is by avoiding scheduling meeting hours in the morning when parents may be busy with housework or setting up their child’s online classes.
During these social isolation times, people working remotely are bound to feel lonely and out of place which could promote anxiety among them. Schedule online sessions where employees can share their experiences and how they are managing during these times and how they went out of the way to help someone in need.These sessions will help keep employees motivated and realize they are not alone, in these turbulent times.
Not all employees are the same and managing the diverse needs of all of them at the workplace was never easy. The challenge has grown many folds now, as they can no longer physically interact and share their needs or problems with you.In such scenarios, it is advisable to have senior team members counsel and interact with their team members on work or personal related issues and also provide assistance if required on the home front.
The senior management of the company also needs to spend time and organize sessions on how to get employees engaged at work for better productivity, so that they can adopt the latest and best practices.
It is challenging for managers to meet their goals, when their team members are not able to be collectively present in the company facility. This is the time when work suffers the most. Lack of discipline and distractions can be the primary reasons. By setting meaningful goals and setting clear achievable deliverables can enable employees to work efficiently, track their results and bring improvements, accordingly.
Nothing helps an employee bond more with his company than being a part of its important events, successes, and being updated on the latest news and happenings within the company.Now is a good time to create an internal website or newsletter that periodically shares all the important news and how they contributed to the growth of the company, to create a stronger sense of bonding and association with the company.
While the world faces the worst ever crisis, in centuries everyone needs to gear up and be prepared for the upcoming changes on how we conduct our business and work together. As economies slowly open up and governments rush to create a safe environment for all, there will be more challenges ahead.
If you are looking for answers on how to get your employees engaged and regain their confidence, it would be advisable to spend some more time listening to and understanding their needs. This will help them keep the employees engaged with the company, and face the upcoming crisis together.
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