The main concern right now for employees is uncertainty. If you’d like a little help or just an independent outside perspective on how to put these 10 tips into action. . Show how the senior management team is working to stabilize the business. Make work fun. 5 Tactics for Maintaining Strong Employee Morale During Difficult Times 1. Employees need to understand where they fit into the company. Identify what the main priority is — and cut back on nonessential projects. Right now, that’s your people. There’s an adverse risk to morale if employees give feedback, and the results are left unactioned. Huge, another creative agency, has transformed its Wednesday lunchtime runs into virtual events at which colleagues share selfies and videos of their neighborhoods. Children, parents and other family factors are vital to our employees’ wellbeing and ability to work. Managers can organise a specific day for team building and put it in the diary just as it would be if the team were all meeting in person. Some retailers have been forced to lay off employees, which has resulted in their shops being understaffed. Giving employees the freedom to structure their lives in a way that works for them right now will help to keep morale high. There is a lot that companies can do beyond hosting a Teams “water cooler.” For example, the London-based digital marketing firm Incubeta has instituted a five-minute virtual dance party every afternoon. (I would fully recommend using Perkbox for this). Encourage employees to take time for themselves throughout the day and introduce a … A site manager at BASF Ham noted that when the management team’s response time to people’s concerns lengthened, it made employee morale drop. Consider sending out a pulse survey with just a few questions to get a read on how your workforce is faring. Organise an activity day and arrange some light-hearted (socially distanced) challenges to open the communication channels again and reignite the buzz created when working as part of a team. Explain in emails or team video calls,... 2. “For teams that would’ve had happy hours on a regular basis,” Justin says, “continue to do those and do them virtually.”. During lockdown and as remote working continues, there is still an opportunity for managers to ask for feedback from individuals during their one-to-one meetings. These engaging techniques can help in conversations with employees in other areas of the business e.g. 1. Required fields are marked *, Copyright © new Date().getFullYear()>2010&&document.write(""+new Date().getFullYear()); | All Rights Reserved | Website Maintained by Athena Web Designs, You need to agree with the terms to proceed. “How do we help people connect when they’re socially distanced?”, Connection starts with communication, and communication starts with listening. It’s the little things – like strong communication, increased flexibility, and good access to resources – that show that you care. He sent a memo (via Slack, of course) telling employees: “We got this. Thank you to all the contributors for sharing your very helpful insights! Throw a lifeline to now-lean teams. So, things like taking time to reflect on what’s important is especially critical right now.”. Employee morale isn’t like widgets, which you can count as they drop off the assembly line. Employees are looking for advice and encouragement from their leaders, particularly when the emotions are running high. How to Motivate Employees and Shape Your Company Culture During a Crisis. Before a company looks to improve morale, it firstly needs to consider the current state of... 2. The other is just for general banter and jokes. instituted a five-minute virtual dance party, Apple, Salesforce, Facebook, and Johnson & Johnson all donated masks, offered 30 days of free storage to college students, produce ventilators, respirators, and face shields. Your email address will not be published. Gather employee feedback. Uncertainty that their role might change, uncertainty about whether they can help ‘their’ company through this difficult time and, perhaps most prevalent, uncertainty that they will keep their job. For instance, Google offers its employees ping pong and foosball tables and video games. Justin sees this as one of the critical things companies can ask managers to do to send a clear message. In this environment, remember one thing: If you take care of your employees, they will take care of you.”. The low-key get-togethers (no one is required to come) give his team a chance to drop in on the boss, see how he’s doing, and let him know how they’re feeling. Encourage creative innovation from your staff. I know what I should be focusing on right now. This can be unsettling and a review with staff to redefine their position and reassure them that it is secure and gain feedback from them to ensure they are comfortable with the changes can help to lift morale and establish a new focus. U-Haul offered 30 days of free storage to college students who may have been kicked out of their dorms. Silence is not golden; even small updates matter, particularly during a crisis. Before coronavirus, most companies or work teams had regularly scheduled social activities they turned to for bonding. But that’s just what Justin Black does. Such knowledge can increase employee pride and trust in the company they work for and gives them a bigger picture idea of their purpose, which can boost morale and engagement. It’s an idea worth borrowing. This influx of working from home has allowed many employees the flexibility they may not have had in the past. Increase communication — with all key stakeholders. A scheme could be introduced where team members praise each other once a week or month so that morale comes from teammates as well as management. If employees are engaged and invested in their roles and the company they work for, it can impact productivity, efficiency and loyalty. Managers can use the sessions to boost morale by offering praise and acknowledgement to individuals and updating the team on company-wide performance and COVID-19 initiatives. And Facebook did that one better by giving every employee an “exceeds expectations” review for the first six months of the year. One is for important communications to staff and for staff to chat about work related issues. The fluidity of the current situation — social distancing, WFH, shelter in place, essential/nonessential work — demands flexibility from both companies and employees. Communicate with them at all times. And if your company has a program that matches employee donations to nonprofits, now is the ideal time for a callout of that benefit. Recognition and Praising employees will increase engagement levels. When employees are working remotely and powering through tasks with little social interaction, they may feel at times like their hard work is being overlooked. Regular communication has been key in ensuring all staff understand the rationale as to why certain members have been retained and why some have been furloughed. When we all help and encourage each other, we all win. Start by talking to your staff. Many factors can affect morale, including leadership, manager and peer support, work environment, trust, culture and how valued employees feel. But knowing how to motivate employees during difficult times can boost workplace morale and make it easier for them to face personal, professional, or social challenges. . Set short-term goals with increased communication to staff and clients. We are celebrating victories. investment in staff. Taking regular breaks throughout the day is important to keep productivity and morale high and disturbing your remote staff during this time can have a negative effect. In a resilient culture, you get managers in the habit of checking in with their people. For those who have worked throughout, we have given additional leave to be used for long weekends in order to recharge batteries and to be a token of appreciation of efforts. As many employees continue to work from home, and some gradually return to the workplace, it may become more challenging to maintain morale. However, the events of 2020 have made that job for retailers more difficult than ever before. Keep it short. Focus on employee engagement. Show a real human side to staff by engaging personally and asking about. The perfume makers at LVHM converted their factories to manufacture hand sanitizing gels for the French. Before we look at the 10 tips, a quick thank you . Morale of those returning after furlough has not been an issue as everyone has been very eager to return. Often, it’s small things that can raise morale. 3 Ways to Keep Employees Engaged After Downsizing Keep your door open--literally and figuratively- … Now more than ever, bosses, managers, and team leads should make it a point to acknowledge good work and celebrate achievements. The biggest thing that I have noticed within our sector is business leaders have been keen to bring their staff back into the office environment for their mental well being as many have found it difficult to work remotely from their colleagues and missing the team support. Free employees from nonessential work. Read more articles on how to keep employees' morale up . To receive blog posts like this one straight in your inbox, subscribe to the blog newsletter. Keep the lines of communication open between HR and the rest of the organization. View increased flexibility as a positive investment in employees. Employers must ensure that they are looking after line managers during COVID-19 and offer praise and appreciation to support their wellbeing. We were already fully set up to work completely flexibly, so we were able to fully adapt smoothly and quickly and employees have been able to prioritise/arrange their work around their family commitments as they see fit. Download Your Free Employee Morale Checklist, 10 Tips To Help You To Boost Employee Morale During Difficult Times, While it’s crucial for managers to focus on their teams during difficult times, they also need support to boost their morale and prevent stress or burn out. Some employees will have managed their job around childcare, and others may have worked different hours. While it’s crucial for managers to focus on their teams during difficult times, they also need support to boost their morale and prevent stress or burn out. If you are having to make some tough decisions (eg redundancies) then act sooner rather than later to remove uncertainty. The good news is that after the first six weeks of lockdown, one in three HR professionals believed that employee morale was higher than it was before COVID-19. Strong morale is never a luxury item; it’s always an essential. It is a small token of appreciation, but our employees have expressed that they really appreciate the recognition.” - Darryl Smith, Founding Partner at Florida Car Accident Lawyer Team Given that now is not the ideal time for large-group gatherings, companies can make sure their employees feel the agency to take time to, say, run errands for elderly or immunocompromised neighbors. Company volunteer programs are a powerful engagement and retention tool. How Companies Can Keep Employee Morale High During the Pandemic 1. “Blocking off time on your calendar daily to do the things that you need to do to stay happy and healthy is more important now than ever,” writes Erica Lockheimer, the VP of engineering for LinkedIn Learning. Before a company looks to improve morale, it firstly needs to consider the current state of morale and how much change is required. We even have a daily 15-minute online staff quiz. The main thing that has been our mantra during lockdown is being wholly flexible with our staff in relation to their individual requirements. Companies must ensure that they are also communicating with managers and supporting them during difficult times because if managers have low morale, there’s a risk it can transfer to their teams and affect their wellbeing. A recent survey showed. Improving staff morale during these difficult times can be challenging, as a lot of people still feel anxious and concerned about the recent pandemic and could be worried about a second wave. Team socials have always been essential to our team cohesiveness and sense of fun and unity. 10 Tips To Help You To Boost Employee Morale During Difficult Times 1. Whether it comes from the top of the business or a line manager, effective communication can aid morale. How to Keep Morale High During Challenging Times Communicate, communicate, communicate. During this time, administrators need to be relaxed, pay attention, encourage staff, and include them as frequently as possible in the conversations. We have a range of different needs and family situations amongst our staff and whilst work is important, it’s not everything. Give your employees extra flexibility. . The difficulty has been balancing the morale of staff who continue to work (all our staff continue to work from home)and those who have been placed on furlough. Managers who have a challenge of managing teams virtually can build team morale, but they need support too. Don’t forget to recognize employees’ efforts even more now that you’re all working remotely. As Josh Bersin says, take care of them now and they’ll take care of you later. As Justin says: “The fundamentals are still applicable.”. Research shows that employees feel overwhelmed and unproductive amidst the uncertain climate of the business world. Managers have had to adapt to managing their teams differently, and they will also have their own personal challenges. Talk to individuals. And many companies are encouraging work teams to use a chat tool like Slack, Twist, or Teams to talk, to check in, and to share anything that keeps them feeling connected — photos (pets and kids particularly welcome), recipes, playlists, Netflix recommendations. Putting out messages on the important group lets staff respond and for others to share their issues. Areas that require improvement must have action plans in place. Managers can also gather employee feedback from regular one-to-ones with team members. Managers have had to adapt to managing their teams differently, and they will also have their own personal challenges. 1. This can be done company-wide using tools such as employee satisfaction or pulse surveys, which gather employee feedback anonymously. Also making sure people are thanked for a job well done. Keeping employee morale up can be difficult in the best of times. 2020's global COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it many problems. The smartest business strategies in the world only have limited effectiveness if employee morale is low. 2. A recent survey showed 48% of employees had fewer one-to-ones in lockdown, and 38% reported that the frequency of their manager one-to-ones had significantly dropped. 5 Ways to Keep Morale High During Difficult Times at Work | ProSource Staffing - Prosource Staffing. Employers must ensure that they are looking after line managers during COVID-19 and offer praise and appreciation to support their wellbeing. Companies that can sustain employee morale while coronavirus disrupts their business will be better off than those who watch it vanish. If you’d like a little help or just an independent outside perspective on how to put these 10 tips into action, get in touch with us here. Take care of yourselves, take care of your families, be a good partner. John Florez is CEO of RightWorks, Inc. Here are examples of survey statements you might ask your employees to rate on a scale that runs from strongly disagree to strongly agree: It's also important to include an open-ended question for employees to provide additional details, such as: "What would make you feel more supported right now?”, “The secret here,” Justin says, “is not a perfect set of survey questions. 5. It takes more than a salary to ensure that employees are motivated and engaged, and during COVID-19 employers have faced different challenges to maintain employee morale. Again, this is only beneficial if the feedback is reviewed, and solutions are offered. Recognition helps employees to feel more secure and encourages good behavior. Here are some helpful tips and advice from local business leaders to help you boost employee morale. You’ve hired intelligent adults, treat them like it . COVID-19 has significantly changed the way we work, and these changes will continue to shape the workplace environment. As lockdown eases, face-to-face offsite team building is becoming a closer reality, however in larger groups, or teams where not all members can meet in person, virtual team building can build morale and engagement. With an increased number of the UK workforce working from home during COVID-19, it has created the challenge of ensuring morale from a distance. A team lunch or drinks may not be possible in person but can be carried out together virtually. “I think as individuals we can take ownership of our schedules, and HR can encourage individuals to just take ownership of their own calendar and be able to block everyone away.”, Employees should let their teammates know when they’re on and they’re off. Deloitte’s 2017 Volunteerism Survey found that 89% of workers believe such programs create a better work environment and 74% think they strengthen everyone’s sense of purpose. . Even in the worst of times, recognizing the hard work employees do with a simple "thanks" now and then can keep morale up, while strengthening the … The less your employees know about what’s going on, the more likely they are to... Tell stories about the great things you and your employees are doing. Meetings or one-on-ones using videoconferencing platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, or Skype are an obvious way to do this. Help employees fulfill career goals. “People don’t need leaders to have a crystal ball right now.”. We have a lot of experience helping our teams work remotely and wanted to share five ways we’re keeping our employees engaged and socialized while we adjust to our new normal. Communication via video has also been essential for team morale and cohesiveness – we have a daily round robin at 9.50am called the 10:10 – a chance for everyone to catch up and address any issues/queries they may have, as well as monitor health/COVID issues. I’m not a member of the latter so don’t know what goes on there! Embrace Zoom and other technology to make sure your people see you every day (or more when warranted). . Maintain high employee morale beyond COVID-19. Essentially, Stewart is cutting his employees some . We have focused on listening, putting in place clear communications and developing health and wellbeing initiatives to help staff feel valued and to help them cope with the changes in the new environment that we are working in. Keeping your team in the dark is the best way to drive them away from your company. Cultivate an Entrepreneurial Spirit Once the company has the staff input, it should be reviewed and communicated to employees. He suggests framing this as something to do, rather than as something to avoid. There has been a lot of talk recently of how productive staff are with home working versus office, but not as much surrounding their mental health of being isolated at home – this is some of the feedback I have received from my clients. Sit down and find out what employees want to get out of their jobs and the company in general. believed that employee morale was higher than it was before COVID-19. They might also be an opportunity for employees to introduce the team to their pet or home office, which can be a light-hearted way to build a team and encourage bonding. Employees having worked from home or on furlough for several months may be feeling a little isolated especially if they are used to working as part of a team. To reassure your employees and boost morale, make sure to establish a regular cadence of communication, engage key stakeholders, and think about ways to reduce infection transmission when people return to the office. Employees need to relate to one another to stay unified during turbulent times of change, and these exercises are perfect for facilitating that connection. It’s hard to quantify. During challenging times the morale of employees is vital – how to make your employees feel appreciated and empowered? The secret here is a really good set of habits at the manager level, where managers are just checking with their employees on a few of these key questions on a regular basis. Listen attentively. It’s vital that each employee knows the business strategy and mission and how they and their job can contribute. Uber Eats donated 300,000 meals to first responders and healthcare workers, and MGM Resorts provided tons of food to the communities in which it operates. Maintaining high employee morale is certainly challenging during a global crisis, but it’s not impossible to achieve. It is fine to work irregular or reduced hours. Ask people how they’re doing. “It’s very simple, right,” Justin says. Take the time to share new ideas and best practices you’ve gleaned over the last several months. As employees work remotely, it’s easy for them to lose sight of the bigger company, so management must remind them how the business is performing and how they and their team are contributing. Customer satisfaction surveys can identify/rate how happy the employees currently are, although, conversations with the employees about what else could make them be happier/feel more supported will make them more grateful and engaged.
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