employee Engagement

The year 2020 is very challenging, and the COVID-19 has made many employees work from home with no immediate end in sight. Today, our world has changed beyond our imaginations, from digitizing the relationship between the firm and customer to digitizing the relationship between the employer and employee. Killer tips to empower your team in covid-19

We are now stocking medical masks, sanitizers, and other sanitary products to the circumstances to tackle the pandemic spread.  The way employees interact with their team and managers has significantly changed. Organizations are looking for new ways to keep their employees connected, motivated, and satisfied during the pandemic situation.

Employee engagement matters in all the aspects, whether you are a marketer or a business owner. Here are 7 interesting ways to drive employee engagement during this pandemic.

1.    Focus on employee wellbeing programs:

It is complicated for employees to stay motivated when they are feeling overwhelmed, physically sick or mentally drained. The year 2020 has challenged everyone with many unseen and unexpected, unforeseen things. Companies should focus on their employees considering their needs during these challenging situations through employee wellness programs.

For instance, you can consider granting access to on-demand workout videos or live-streaming aerobics, Yoga, or other High Intensity Training programs as virtual wellness programs. Your health program should be simple, like sending workout gears, water bottles, etc. to encourage home workouts.

To ensure mental health stability at the workplace, create a safe space for work-life balance. Encourage stress reducing activities and prevent employee burnout. Ensure your organization offers flexible work hours that provide your team members with a better sense of control. Please give them a chance to avoid on-road traffic

2.    Provide virtual team building activities:

Since March, many organizations have changed or shifted their workplace from a corporate office to virtually working from home. Your organization needs to provide virtual team building activities in order to maintain company culture and interactions between employees.

There are many ways where your employees can connect with the team members through icebreakers, quiz-nights to virtual happy hours, and escape rooms from their home over zoom. There are other online platforms like Jackbox, cards and selfie games and can build relations between them.

3.    Conduct a survey of employee feedback:

Be honest, and it is the best policy ever. The best way to make your employees share their truthful opinions is to conduct an online survey. Know how your employees feel about their work. Respond to their feedback, which will lead to high retention rates, reduce absenteeism, improve productivity, ensure better customer service, and get high employee confidence.

Surveys can also help to make your employees feel their opinions are valued and considered. You can use free and straightforward survey websites like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to know your employee’s feedback.

4.    Online informal interactions:

Generally, employees interact with their team members in an office environment about non-work related activities like sports, pets and movies. Now, lunch breaks, office events, and many such social gathering events have stopped. Many organizations face a significant shift in their employee dynamics; hence; companies have created platforms for online informal interactions.

You can help employees maintain the sense of unity and connection through fun virtual spirit days, bingo games, photo competitions and recipe sharing opportunities.

5.    Provide a charitable giving program:

Make your employees work towards a common goal, and it increases productivity. Create a workplace giving program that allows your employees to feel powerful and responsible. Establish a program called Modern Giving which makes employers quickly launch and scale their workplace giving programs. Modern Giving program make your employees immediately deduct charitable contributions from their paychecks and make donation to a cause of their choice. It makes employees feel a sense of pride in their work as they know they have contributed to the community or the individuals in need.

6.    Communicate effectively with your employees:

Communication between team members becomes very hard when they are working from home. Managers should communicate with their employees daily and keep them informed. Communication is essential! Make yourself available to listen to your employee concerns, feedbacks, and feelings. If A remote employee feels stressed and lonely at these challenging times, be empathetic and let them know that they are not alone. Most of the organizations are sending their employees weekly COVID-19 newsletters with updates and relevant company information in order to make their employees informed about the current events.

Generally, companies have weekly in-person meetings, and now, those meetings are held virtually with a high priority to know employee concerns, requirements and leadership updates.

7.      Recognize and reward for good work:

Boost your employees by rewarding them for their hard work, and it is a significant factor to make employees feel valued for work they are do. Incentivize employee productivity and dedication.

For instance, send an email to the team members or to the company commending an employee’s good work. In addition to that, offer a physical token of appreciation and send them an electronic gift card to purchase items that they need, through Amazon or a meal from a local restaurant. For your understanding, recognition doesn’t require to be a grand gesture. Just a simple thank you message makes employees feel valued and appreciated.

Finally

Driving employee engagement during this pandemic situation is very crucial. It is your responsibility to make the difference in your business. So, find out ways for better employee engagement, even if your organization is going through bad situations. Think to turn work-from-home an advantage and take measures on what you have learned and create a strategy. Be prepared for something like this in future.