Many businesses see the times of global pandemic as uncertain and troubling and try to take self-initiated organisational actions like mergers, acquisitions, or layoffs. Other companies take a step forward in stability and manage their team, even when external factors are changing.
It’s only natural that team engagement, motivation, and the overall employee experience have been disrupted due to the novel virus, but the necessity of them in talent management remains high. Also, the way all people work has changed dramatically in the past few months, making it hard to keep your staff focused and productive. While motivating employees can be difficult, it’s extremely important in a troubling period like this or when a company’s change is on the horizon. Let’s highlight five possible ways on how to reinforce trust in employees’ workplaces and keep your team productive and engaged.
Take Care Of Yourself First
Remember that it all starts with you. You have to be optimistic and at peace with yourself to support your employees in uncertain times. If you can’t stop thinking about the difficult times your business is going through, it is likely that most of your team will follow you in this line of thought.
Therefore, you should take some time to express your emotions, understand how you are feeling, think and reflect. You will be able to better support your staff and model resilience by being aware of and coping with any stress and anxiety you might feel. Try to keep your distance between yourself and your employees so you can make an informed decision about how to find better solutions and act in accordance with your values.
A good idea to consider the intake of CBD oil, which can help to manage stress and anxiety and bring clarity and focus back. CBD (stands for cannabidiol) is a natural, non-psychoactive compound derived from Cannabis sativa plants that can interact with your body’s endocannabinoid system to provide relief and ensure all process are in balance. Therefore, CBD oil can also help to promote better mood and alertness, boost the immune system, relieve pain and chronic aches and regulate sleep quality, among other benefits. A variety of types of cannabidiol like CBD isolate, broad-spectrum and full-spectrum options, and various formats of products in the CBD market allow you to take cannabidiol in different forms such as a CBD vape cartridge for your vape pen, tinctures, gummies, tea, water and many others.
Offer Regular Company Updates
When an organisation is experiencing some hardship, employees expect to be treated as adults. Since the company works through a difficult situation, your team wants to understand what is going on, where the company is and how they need to adapt their work behaviour.
As you explain to your employees what is expected from them and what really matters to them, this can help to prevent them from speculating about what is happening and focus on what they can control to solidify your efforts and make the necessary improvements. When you do this, your employees will stay grounded and demonstrate a commitment to move on business successfully.
Address Any Rumours
Refraining from sharing information allows the rumour mill to generate any number of ridiculous stories that do nothing but create confusion, increase stress, and decrease motivation. Therefore, consider to be transparent, keep them informed of each action, and updated with what you know, even if that means sharing bad news.
Also, misleading your employees with sugar coating isn’t a good idea that can be heading for trouble. If you try to alleviate the employees’ misery by embellishing the company’s news, you are likely to lose their trust. This results in doubt in decisions made by the company’s leaders, reduced motivation, and productivity. Your employees need to be taught how to handle challenges as well as deserve to be aware of updates regarding the situation in the organisation.
Prioritise Empathetic & Personalised Communications
It’s essential to understand that not every person has worked remotely before. Add to this an unprecedented context of the virus, that no one has experienced in their lifetime, and it’s easy to explain why so many workers are facing a lack of motivation and productivity.
Therefore try to lower your expectations and focus on the positives, be flexible and patient. Everybody is struggling at some level, so it can be a good idea to try different things to boost morale and engagement. Employers should see this situation as their ability to prove that they are here for their employees by building trust and demonstrating caring about their wellness. However, this cannot be done using the same general messages to an entire company that staff tends to ignore.
Instead, you need to find methods to personalise internal communication messages based on their roles in the company, languages that they speak, responsibilities, locations, and many other factors. Open and regular communication can help to keep the team inspired and motivated as a crisis continues.
Be Bold & Confident
While some members of your staff are self-reliant and naturally confident, others might need more reassurance by their managers. Make it a top priority to inspire your employees to be more self-assured and make brave decisions and moves. Welcome ideas from all employees, both senior and junior workers, which can help to increase their productivity and creativity. When employees understand that members of the team that make predictive decisions succeed faster than those who are very risk-averse, they are more willing to share fresh ideas and new ways to improve products or services.
Ensure Full Presence
Remote working is beneficial for reducing the spread of the COVID-19, but it can be challenging for many employees that struggle with their mental health, especially if they have to spend time alone. The worst thing a leader can do is go “missing” by burying themselves in paperwork, different projects, or spending lots of time at meetings with only senior managers.
In times of uncertainty and change, seeing and hearing the leader is vital for employees. Be available for questions and continue to reassure your staff with your steady presence. You can also support your people and address their needs by engaging in active listening and showing empathy for all the emotions they are currently experiencing. Make a one-on-one conversation or team video calls often, share some of your own feelings, and encourage the team to discuss how they are doing honestly. Obviously, you can’t solve their problems, but expressing strong emotions and listening with a kind word can help them cope with anxiety, recharge, and refocus on work.
Add Some Fun To Your Working Week
As public distancing is still advised, people are stuck indoors and missing communication with work colleagues and friends alike as well as traditional activities like socialising during lunch or coffee break, going for a drink after work, etc.
Consider adding one activity per week for your staff to boost motivation and morale within the teams. Many companies set themed ‘Happy Hour’ in a schedule where they come up with a theme each week, and all team members have a drink on a video chat. Such time is a great opportunity to communicate with your colleagues, talk about everything starting from work, and new online workout to what they have been doing that week. Also, having a catch-up and laughing with colleagues during these uncertain and stressful times might be useful for everyone.
As an alternative, you can add different fun activities such as virtual pub quizzes and virtual marble, bingo, horse races, book club, or even a team workout over Zoom – any activity that can make your team looking forward to it each week.