Vital steps to help maintain employee motivation and wellbeing in a socially distanced world
Undoubtedly, employees’ motivation levels and overall wellbeing will have been impacted by this. Whether your employees are now working from home or social distancing on-site, they’ll be spending the majority of their working days either alone or separate from colleagues which can be lonely, tedious and uninspiring.
It’s a testing time for employees in all lines of work and at this point many of them will be missing their old set up. It’s therefore crucial for businesses to step in and make sure they’re doing all they can to minimise the side-effects of working in this new socially distanced world. Here are some useful things you can do to boost your employees’ motivation and wellbeing, all of which we’re currently doing at peoplevalue.
Organise virtual social activities and events
The day-to-day social interactions we have with our colleagues form a key part of our working lives and contribute to our social wellbeing and overall sense of belonging at work. Social distancing has made keeping in touch with our colleagues a bit more of a challenge and employees currently working from home are missing those familiar social encounters that made them feel part of a community at work. When social activity drops off like this, employees can very quickly feel disconnected and that’s when we can see motivation levels and wellbeing start to decline.
To combat this, you can introduce virtual social activities to essentially replace the interactions that your employees will inevitably be missing out on. Company quizzes, competitions through your employee hub or intranet and collaborative online activities such as creating a company Spotify playlist are some examples of things you can do to bring your employees together and give them the opportunity to communicate and connect.
One thing we’re doing at peoplevalue which has been successful are virtual coffee meet-ups. We started them because we essentially wanted to make those impromptu conversations that we would normally have had in the kitchen at work, for example, virtual so that our people could catch up about things other than work. We schedule them in for a specific time each day, so that if employees are available, they can simply drop in and have a laid-back chat with whoever else is on the call at the time.
Being able to take a short time out from work to have a quick catch up with colleagues will help your employees feel more positive, motivated, and connected. They’ll be happier about the current working situation despite its challenges. Virtual events can be organised relatively easily thanks to tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and if you have an employee engagement hub, they’re a great platform to host fun activities.
Celebrate your people and say thank you
Now is the time to really say thank you to your employees and reward them for their hard work and commitment. It’s in challenging times like the one we’re currently experiencing that a thank you really does go a long way and make a difference to your employees’ attitudes towards work. When employees feel valued and appreciated by their peers and superiors, they are more likely to feel motivated and happy in the workplace too. That’s why reward and recognition tools are so powerful.
Peer-to-peer recognition in particular is useful because it encourages employees to share their appreciation of each other. What results is essentially a highlight reel of good news stories from all areas of your business, clearly visible on one platform. Logging in and seeing all the fantastic work going on will motivate your employees and give them a well-needed morale boost.
To compliment this, you can deliver rewards to celebrate your employees too. At peoplevalue, we gave everyone £100 worth of reward points to say thanks. A simple gesture like this has a huge impact on employees’ motivation levels. It demonstrates that their hard work isn’t taken for granted and is truly appreciated. It’s memorable pat on the back. Taking the time to celebrate your employees and say thank you, however you decide to do it, is a great way of maintaining motivation and wellbeing.
Communicate often and be open
Effective internal communications have the ability to improve your employees’ motivation and wellbeing because they contribute to how supported, trusted and respected they feel. Communication has taken on new significance during this pandemic. Businesses need to be keeping their employees up to date with what’s going on as well as checking in on them regularly. So, what can you do?
Remind your employees about their benefits, update them on any changes, signpost key resources, ask for their feedback via surveys and, crucially, provide transparent information on your business’ performance. While some people might argue that there’s no such thing as too much communication at a time like this, I think it’s better to favour quality over quantity otherwise you’re at risk of overwhelming your employees. A barrage of emails every week, for example, won’t be very effective. Instead, use a variety of communication channels and make sure that your managers are also doing their bit to check in with their teams and having regular huddles. It’s all about keeping your employees informed and inspired.
Our virtual company huddles have been particularly effective because our Managing Director can speak to everyone in the business in one go. Having that face-to-face contact makes a huge difference because not only can you go into more detail, it’s more interactive and inclusive. Remember, communication is a two-way street so make sure you’re giving your employees the chance to ask questions, share ideas and provide feedback. All of this will inspire confidence, strengthen your community and build trust, thereby helping to maintain employee motivation and wellbeing.
Reinforce your ‘why’
Understandably, when employees are dealing with challenges both inside and outside work, they can very easily lose sight of the ‘why’ behind their individual roles. This is when we see motivation start to drop. To stop this happening, go back to your ‘why’ – emphasis your strategic narrative because this will highlight exactly why your employees’ actions are making a difference.
Your business’ journey, goals and values are what define your employees’ sense of purpose, so now is a great time to refer back to these in your communications and activities to demonstrate how your employees fit into that narrative through their individual roles.
While it’s valuable to continually signpost your values and what your business is aiming to achieve throughout the year, it’s also key to apply context here. We’re living and working in a very different climate than we were at the beginning of the 2020, so it’s helpful for your employees to understand how your goals may have changed. Being able to understand exactly how they’re contributing to the bigger picture will reinforce that sense of purpose, drive their motivation and help them feel more positive and focused going forwards.
The author is Pip Rule, communications manager, peoplevalue.
This article is provided by peoplevalue.
In partnership with peoplevalue – The Employee Engagement Company
We are a leading provider of employee reward&recognition, benefits delivery&wellbeing solutions.
