It’s never more important than at a time like this for employers to assure their employees that they are acknowledged and appreciated.
The conversation around employee wellbeing has increased in the last few years, but for a lot of companies, it’s a very reactive strategy rather than a preventive one. Ultimately, employers will react when staff become anguished, but could more be done to avoid it in the first place?
Good question? And if you had the answer as to how you could keep an entire workforce happy a 100% of the time, your expertise would be required at most businesses across the world.
It isn’t a one size fits all approach, but just some basic consideration and support can go a long way.
1. Be mindful of personal circumstances
Most people don’t want their employer to know every single detail about their private life. And most of the time, people don’t let their personal issues affect their performance and attitude at work.
Although a manager may not be aware of an individual employee’s circumstances outside of work, we all have domestic and financial responsibilities, and will experience personal struggles and conflicts at times.
There may never have been “a time like this” in this century, but during periods of economic decline and uncertainty, employers should be extra mindful of their staffs’ home life.
2. How are they managing their current workload?
As said above, normally, personal circumstances don’t massively impact a worker’s performance. These aren’t normal circumstances.
For many organisations, their workforces have been reduced; however, as business and consumer activity increases, so is the volume of work.
Are members of your staff struggling with increased difficulties at home and increased responsibilities at work?
Ensure their workload is reasonable and achievable, and ask how they are coping.
3. Acknowledging strong performance
While some will be struggling under these new pressures, others will be excelling and truly going above and beyond to ensure your organisation makes it through this period.
Everyone has had to rapidly adapt and adjust to a drastically different way of behaving and working. Many of your staff who have worked throughout this period have done so thinking they could lose their jobs or loved ones at any moment.
Thank them. Sincerely. Highlight specific ways they’ve helped the company and their colleagues. Prove to them that they matter and why.
4. Sharing business insights and future plans
Your business has a future right now because of the staff that have persevered in this adverse period. You survived because of them.
So let them know what that future holds. What is their role going to be going forward?
Previous goals may have moved further away from being reached or scrapped altogether, so what are your ambitions now?
Job security will continue to be a great concern for the foreseeable future, and while you may not be able to guarantee it indefinitely right now, you can still engage and motivate your staff with future plans.
5. Listening to their concerns
It could be something you never would have guessed!
With an increase in remote working and workloads, committing to one-to-one or keep in touch meetings may be getting very overlooked right now, but it’s so important for staff to know they can express how they’re feeling.
You’re never too busy to listen to your team!