Angshuman Dev Talukdar — April 9, 2020 The prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has bought the entire world to its knees. Not even a single country which also includes some of the world’s most powerful nations are able to cope up to this crisis. And with the present-day health-care system falling apart in our fight against this unseen adversary. The only option to safeguard human lives is now depended on maintaining proper hygiene and practising social distancing.
Most of the nations have declared a state of emergency and imposed lockdown protocols affecting every aspect of our normal life to its core. Having no choice left even organizations worldwide are now forced to adopt the culture of work from home for keeping their operations up and going.
But till when? With no sign of effective cure any time soon we can only believe that it is going to be a very long fight and employers should be ready to absorb it. Even if the employees are asked to operate from home, it isn’t going to be an easy task for them amidst all the chaos going around.
Staying in constant touch with your employees like you would have been in the office is going to be difficult but not impossible, all thanks to the advancement in technology especially cloud-computing. By leveraging its power, employers can now create a collaborative work environment with all their employees and associates virtually.
There are various online tools that are now available at your disposal but the only thing that’s missing is the associated human emotion which is much needed to keep your employees engaged and motivated.
Even if your employees are working remotely you shouldn’t ignore the need for practicing employee engagement.
Employee engagement amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
We all know how difficult these times are with everyone frightened for their own lives as well as their near and dear ones. Focusing one thing has become very tough for everyone including your employees with all kinds of news floating around. Moreover, even working from home has its own share of issues which combined with other extrinsic matters can demoralize your employees. It is where your role as a responsible employer comes to play.
While most of you must have obviously taken up employee engagement seriously at your workplace but now the scenario has changed and I bet that even you’re confused about what to do. But let me tell you that there’s still a lot you can do to motivate your employees and keep them engaged.
Let’s look at some of the important points to keep in mind for a healthy workforce during this pandemic
Here are the 5 ways
Build a much stronger communication regime with your remote teams
Maintaining good communication with your employees is the first and most important thing that you should look into. Having strong communication skills is the sign of a leader and it is what your employees need right now. As an employer or a manager, you need to lead them out out of their concerns and help them focus on other important stuff. Also, since most of your employees would be now working remotely keeping up a constant communication will surely boost their motivation and help them concentrate more on their work.
Another tip here for you is to begin your day with a quick meeting with all the teams. This will help both you and your employees to stay on track for driving better results even if they are all apart.
Don’t forget to cheer them up with instant appreciation
Acknowledging the efforts of your employees is the main mantra for driving employee engagement. However, unlike in the office, you cannot just get out of your chair and approach your employees to convey your appreciation under the current circumstances. So what’s the best option for you?
A cloud-based employee rewards and recognition system that makes sure you never miss a moment and recognize your employees instantly no matter where they are. Such a system also allows your employees to appreciate and even nominate their colleagues for various awards ushering a culture of peer recognition which is much needed in the present situation.
Moreover, you can jinx up your employee recognition initiative by combining it up with meaningful rewards for delivering a better employee experience.
Loosen up and ensure flexibility
When working from home your employees might also have to engage themselves in their own household chores and you must understand it. Allowing your employees some flexibility to focus on their personal works isn’t a bad idea whereas it’ll help them get back to work with a free mind. Therefore, you must really take appropriate measure to ensure flexibility for motivating your employees and strengthen their commitment towards the organization.
Create a virtual community with all your employees
Working from home for a prolonged period of time especially under these circumstances is surely going to a toll over the mental health of your remote employees. This arises due to the void where your employees are no longer able to experience their usual office culture. At the office, your employees get the chance to meet their colleagues and get involve in casual conversations which creates a very lively atmosphere around. However, it takes a setback when all your employees are separated.
The only way to mitigate this is to build a virtual community among your employees where everyone can stay connected 24×7. Also, remember to keep this virtual community totally informal which would allow your employees to speak up their mind in a profound manner and maintain their workplace camaraderie even if they are confined to their homes.
Host online team building activities
Just like in the workplace you can also hold virtual team building activities for all your remote employees. Team building activities are a quintessential part of every employee engagement program. Such activities involve various task that brings your employees together to work as a team and display their unity. Though organizing such activities is much easier when your employees are present near you. But, you can still host such activities online and involve all your employees with modern collaborative tools at your disposal.
However, if you’re still unclear about what types of activities you can carry out then here’s a whole list of online team building activities suitable for organizations of all sizes.
Conclusion
Engaging your employees has become very crucial in today’s owing to the growing competitive business environment. Having stockpile assets and other resources may help your organization run faster in the race but it is your employees who hold the key to success. Thinking of grabbing the top spot without the cooperation of your employees would merely be a dream. That’s why as an employer you must really look forward to keeping your employees satisfied and motivated no matter where they are.
Under the current situation deploying employee engagement measures might look like a tough job but believe me it isn’t. The present-day technology has answered this issue very well with a cloud-based employee engagement platform like that of Vantage Circle. And now it remains upto you on how you would you like to implement it enhance your employee experience and boost their morale for better productivity.
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