With cultural heritage institutions across the world temporarily shut, organisations are exploring new ways to promote their content in accessible and engaging formats, as people look to enjoy collections from their own homes. Don’t just celebrate the victories within the teams, praise employees and teams across the board – use your internal notice boards to pass on your thanks. With many teams working remotely, communication and bonds between colleagues being strained, and economic uncertainty creating new stresses for organizations and their employees, taking steps to reinforce employee engagement and morale is a must. If your employees don’t use these tools or don’t know how to use them, onboard them quickly. Being inside 24*7 has greatly changed the concept of ‘working hours’ and employees often struggle to cope with that kind of change, especially when family obligations come into play, more often than not for working women. This means proactively sending updates and information and ensuring you can reach the entire workforce, whether at a desk or on a factory floor. Encourage your employees to praise and acknowledge one another. 17th April 2020 11:19 am 17th April 2020 11:32 am. Your survey results won’t give you the gold-plated solution for improving employee engagement, but it should show you where you need to focus your efforts. But that still left 65% of American workers who reported being disengaged to one extent or another. Effective recognition not only motivates the recipient but can serve as a strong signal to other employees of behaviors they should emulate. We can help you get started with our list of 59 Employee Engagement Ideas & Activities! 5 Ways to Engage Remote Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Yeah, I know. Questionnaires and surveys through e. can be really helpful when forming such a care environment. Enthusiasm for an inquiry into an aspect of personal well-being like mental health can foster deeper bonds of loyalty and care among-st the employees. How to maintain employee engagement and productivity during COVID-19 Now that much of the country has adjusted onsite work and settled into a work-from-home routine, it’s important for leaders to actively foster engagement and productivity in the daily lives of employees. Team bonding is a challenge when the whole team is working remotely. Employee engagement is to do with employees feeling an emotional connection to a company. Being inside 24*7 has greatly changed the concept of ‘working hours’ and employees often struggle to cope with that kind of change, especially when family obligations come into play, more often than not for working women. They need engaged employees more than ever to get through this challenging period. Therefore, planning Employee Engagement during the COVID 19 pandemic is very important. Here are a few tips and tricks to keep the communication two-way, consistent, panic-free and productive. With employees often taking the role of caregiver, teacher and parent, all while working - … Foster teamwork and collaboration even under challenging circumstances, be there for each other. Employees are then encouraged to get out of their home office and work remotely in a new upbeat environment for the day. Employee experience drivers—perspectives and needs that vary between and even within those segments—may be somewhat heightened and … Ideas for digital engagement in the time of COVID-19 This is a challenging time for our sector. The most important employee benefits during Covid include paid leave, flexibility, employee assistance programs, healthcare coverage, and childcare support. Subscribe to our weekly content digest and stay up-to-date on everything recruitment related! Therefore, planning Employee Engagement during the COVID 19 pandemic is very important. Employee engagement initiatives are aimed at team building and to connect with families Employees of IBS Software were in for a surprise when they met on Microsoft Teams Live on June 18. As we’ve mentioned before, ask your team to provide feedback frequently. That means around two-thirds of the workforce isn’t engaged with their roles. Everyone knows that, right?We’re in an age where there is a distinct lac. Published 10 February 2020 Tags. —Rahm Emanuel . Try these ideas to help your employees connect from afar. #Kathryn Tyler Therefore, when the ability to be social is snatched away from them, a dip in performance and general well-being is to be expected. Keeping employees engaged during Covid-19 requires two things: connection and recognition. It’s the extent to which employees are motivated to work hard, how passionate they feel about the company and how invested they are in their work. A dangerous and often lethal virus that spreads rapidly – through the rich and the poor, through the different races of the world, not restricting itself to any country or climate, COVID-19 has brought even the superpowers of the world to their knees. How businesses can bolster connectivity for telecommuters during … Use your internal communications to make your action visible to everyone. This article was written for Business 2 Community by Chanakya Kyatham.Learn more about writing for B2C, Chanakya Kyatham is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager at ParamInfo Computer Services Pvt Ltd and piLOBI. Your core values will likely be what attracted employees to you in the first place, so show them that you’re focused on upholding your values – promote them to your employees and remind them of what you stand for. Get the whole team involved if possible. Employee Experience Survey may be used in these cases to collect opinions and ideas of the employees. These suggestions can no longer be described as radical. Creative ways of office engagement can succeed in providing a semblance of normalcy for the employees. Harver helps the world’s leading brands to hire digital and hire fair at scale. Communicate, communicate, communicate. COVID-19 and the employee experience: How leaders can seize the moment ... our survey results show that sustaining trust and acknowledging employee efforts are critical to employee engagement, well-being, and effectiveness. Look to create channels where employees can anonymously (or on the record), raise their issues and concerns. A survey or a questionnaire are great ways to gather feedback about how your employees are feeling on a day to day basis, as well as how they feel about the company as a whole. Employee engagement during Covid-19 This know-how outlines why appointing an employee director and directors’ use of social media have particular relevance during COVID-19. Your employees might feel uncertain about the ongoing situation –  55% of employees are concerned about job security. Some like to cook, play instruments or dance in the living room. 3. It's in times of crisis when employee engagement is necessary to keep a workplace thriving. This is a challenging time for our sector. Having a culture of collaboration is another. Only half of employees indicate that their organization is providing regular updates. Maintaining employee engagement has become more important and more challenging during lockdown. These activities help in collating data about how exactly do the minds of the employees work and make it … Creative ways of office engagement can succeed in providing a semblance of normalcy for the employees. Using Tom Hanks and the film Cast Away as a metaphor for the mass migration over to working remotely is a bit twisted considering he and his wife, Rita Wilson, are among those who contracted the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. It is your workforce that can make the difference in how your business gets through it. Therefore, when the ability to be social is snatched away from them, a dip in performance and general well-being is to be expected. Be sure to have a structure in place to provide this feedback, for example, through regular virtual 1-on-1 meetings and facilitating open conversations within and across teams. You may not feel like now is the right time to be demonstrating your corporate and social responsibilities, but showing employees that you care more than just about your bottom line will stand you in good stead, not just now, but in the future too. Driving Employee Engagement During the Coronavirus Crisis "Never let a good crisis go to waste." Instead, bring employees into the fold and give them frequent updates – if people don’t know what is happening, they can’t be fully supportive and engaged with you. And to get the most out of remote employees, you need to enable them to work collaboratively as if they were actually next to one another. Employees want to feel a sense of belonging and that they’re contributing in a meaningful way. These activities help in collating data about how exactly do the minds of the employees work and make it easier for employers to keep their employees motivated and active. Despite the difficulties of maintaining or adapting employee engagement activities during the coronavirus pandemic, the fundamentals remain the same: good company culture with engaged employees leads to a happier workplace. It is psychologically attractive to be asked questions – whether one is asked to grade a particular experience or select options. Here are 7 ideas to appreciate and inspire your employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being able to listen is key to the manager’s ability to give feedback. Just because your employees aren’t physically with one another, doesn’t mean they can’t have fun together, or share some downtime together – meetups don’t always have to happen in person. Without this, the enterprise is sure to fail. Not informing your employees doesn’t help keep them feeling secure and engaged. Virtual Team Bonding During COVID-19. ... Bring back the spirit of grade-school with these activities and let employees share a part of their world with the rest of their team. A: Measuring employee engagement becomes easier with a plan. The holidays are approaching, but there won't be a holiday party in the office this year due to COVID-19. Using Tom Hanks and the film Cast Away as a metaphor for the mass migration over to working remotely is a bit twisted considering he and his wife, Rita Wilson, are among those who contracted the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Find out what your employees are struggling with on a daily basis and seek to provide a solution. So set up a virtual watercooler that is always accessible. Effective recognition not only motivates the recipient but can serve as a strong signal to other employees of behaviors they should emulate. As employees transition to remote work in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic, new insights on how to effectively manage virtual employee engagement during a crisis are emerging. Don’t forget too, that (just as always) you should focus on inclusion. Only about ⅓ believe that their organization “has the resilience to handle these circumstances”. #Kathryn Tyler Engagement with the workforce is fundamental to business performance. Here are 7 ideas to appreciate and inspire your employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. can help in making surveys that companies can use to get a comprehensive idea of an employee’s mental health condition. Companies are preparing to reopen their physical offices in China over the coming weeks while continuing to support colleagues working remotely. How businesses can bolster connectivity for telecommuters during … During a crisis, don’t forget about your core values and your company culture. Don’t forget too, that (just as always) you should focus on inclusion. The significant impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on employees’ personal and work lives is leading to employee anxiety, frustration and burnout. When employees know that voices aren’t only being heard, but that they can bring about change by speaking out, they’ll naturally feel more engaged. Working remotely from home, not being able to go out of the house, the constant in-flow of how the pandemic is spreading, severely limited social contact – all of this gets the better of us at some point or the other, no matter our background, personality or preferences. Organizations that are doing these practices are Genpact, Accenture, Deloitte, AMD, and Hinduja Global Solutions. Celebrate (small) victories and recognize your employees, key to the manager’s ability to give feedback, tools that are currently offered free of charge. Staying human, especially during a crisis, matters. In this post we highlight resources, tools and ideas from Europeana … But when an organisation is struggling, that’s when it really comes alive. Recognition of small wins and efforts goes a long way in driving employee engagement in a regular setting but also in challenging times. have a dedicated Slack channel called #watercooler for virtual conversations. The coronavirus and COVID-19 may force us into prolonged “social distancing,” but it does not have to follow that we lose our work-centered relationships and support. Try to be positive in your communication but don’t over-promise. Your employees are looking to you - so show them you are answering their questions, concerns, and needs. Driving employee engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial. Your comment may not appear immediately. That’s because, deep down, most … One of the major aspects of a lock-down like this, during a pandemic, can be the helplessness of feeling pushed to a corner while something ominous is lurking all over. So when employees need to work remotely, or their future looks uncertain, what is the best way to get the most out of them? Tailor recognition to acknowledge employee efforts As COVID-19 creates significant disruption, and undercuts employee engagement, managers need to redouble their recognition efforts. When you need your employees to step up and work together, your culture can really flourish. There is no doubt that India Inc began taking action to educate employees for a safe working environment at the onset of Covid-19. Mental Health: The first thing that a company must do to ensure employee engagement is to do an assessment of the psychological condition of an employee, considering a drastic change of pace in daily life and the rampant spread of a dangerous disease are both issues that are serious enough to affect every human being, irrespective of pre-existing conditions. psychology.org.au 2 Others have characterised work engagement as feeling energetic, enthusiastic, alert and feeling pride towards their work outcomes. Work‐from‐home regime engagement activities are very fruitful for employees as well as for organizations. are beneficial in these kinds of situations. Now is also a good time to encourage your workforce to use any learning and development initiatives that you have in place. Even though your employees are working remotely, turn this crisis to your advantage and put in place measures that mean you can take what you’ve learned and create a strategy to cope, should something like this happen again in the future. Don’t wait for employees to come to you. Ask them questions on a sliding scale between 1-5. So, surveys conducted through e, Human beings are social animals. Even during the coronavirus pandemic, engaged employees, compared with those who are not engaged or actively disengaged, report lower levels of … And remember that a company doesn’t work from the top down, it works from the bottom up. Not informing your employees doesn’t help keep them feeling secure and engaged. For example, encourage regular team checkins. Maintaining employee engagement during COVID-19. Employee Engagement Software ensures that employees feel a connection to the company and their peers, warding off the negative effects of working in solitude. Driving employee engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial. The activities are intended to help managers maintain employee performance and engagement in the throes of a pandemic. What’s more, many organizations are suddenly having to manage more remote teams. Organizations have an opportunity to improve employee experience during the return phase of the COVID-19 crisis by shifting from a focus on meeting health and safety needs to a more nuanced approach that recognizes differences among the workforce. A website “Did They Help?” tracks how companies and celebrities have behaved in the COVID-19 pandemic. If you wait a whole year to address issues, you could miss an opportunity to rectify a situation. Make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. Due to current coronavirus pandemic employee engagement may have dropped, this might affect the organization productivity as well, but it’s one of the most important initiatives to keep at the forefront to be successful through engaging employees at home effectively. And come 2025, when they make up 75% of the workforce, you’ll be a preferred employer. That’s why so many organizations have made employee engagement a priority. The activities are intended to help managers maintain employee performance and engagement in the throes of a pandemic. Employee Engagement during the Coronavirus. Make sure that the engagement efforts are continuous and not one-off attempts. One of the best ways to achieve this is by ensuring the company workplace culture is the best it can be. So look for ways to engage your employees even when your organization is going through a rough patch. As employee engagement goes up, productivity goes up (as does retention and safety). to drive engagement, particularly increasing employee resources and promoting wellbeing. Employee engagement has become one of the most important matters under constant consideration during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is to determine the engagement of employees by various companies during coronavirus pandemic. Employee feedback about the challenge. Each employee will snap a photo of themselves working at the coffee shop and will post it to the team chat group. It … It is psychologically attractive to be asked questions – whether one is asked to grade a particular experience or select options. ... Having a reason to don their best outfits can help boost employee moods and productivity … Getty. 5 Ways to Engage Remote Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Yeah, I know. For example, teams can bring their daily standups into the virtual environment to be aware of what everyone is working on and how the team members can help each other. Facebook. Allow them to submit questions anonymously during (virtual) meetings so that you can address everyone’s issues can be address. Communicate regularly through whichever channels work best for your organization such as: If employees don’t understand where the company is standing financially in times of COVID-19, it makes them feel insecure, unmotivated and even disengaged. Tracking the progress over time will help you identify both roadblocks and victories. During COVID-19, employees had to trust leaders to take the right direction and to make tough decisions for the future. A key part of trust in leadership is transparency, where employees have visibility into what is happening within their organisation. These activities help in collating data about how exactly do the minds of the employees work and make it easier for employers to keep their employees motivated and active. This includes tracking how companies have treated their employees, which will be important in their later recruitment and retention efforts. They’re the ones who know the issues the best, so they could also know what might remedy the situation quickest and most effectively. Employees might struggle with feelings of uncertainty, isolation, not being in the know, and more. They need to be prepared for a marathon, not a sprint. Questionnaires and surveys through employee experience survey software can be really helpful when forming such a care environment. 3 min read. The more they’re involved, the more they’ll feel valued and respected as individuals, which in turn will help strengthen the atmosphere of trust. are concerned about job security. Not everyone likes to draw. Having the right tools is one thing. Furthermore, not only does recognition improve employee engagement, it also strengthens manager-to-peer relationships, peer-to-peer relationships, and understanding of an organization’s core values. Enthusiasm for an inquiry into an aspect of personal well-being like mental health can foster deeper bonds of loyalty and care among-st the employees. With the onset of the pandemic there has been a radical shift in the way work happens. It's in times of crisis when employee engagement is necessary to keep a workplace thriving. Wit… Such unsure times demand a certain degree of flexibility from employers, not only because these are unprecedented and unpredictable working conditions that we are living in but also because of humane compassion. Employee Experience Management Platform exists precisely to make such communication possible. Help your managers become great listeners so that they can provide constructive feedback to their team members. 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