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The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world as we know it. From the way we celebrate new milestones to the way we work. It would seem that we are now operating in our own ‘virtual reality’.
In the world of work, remote working was once a way to encourage flexible working. Now, without any ease or transition period, our homes are now our new offices. Here in Barbados, the increased measures of social distancing and the surges in the Covid-19 cases, remote working is the go-to for many organisations, who are playing their part in flattening the curve.
So, how do we as HR professionals, managers and overall business owners ensure that our employees or team members keep our businesses running smoothly? We get creative.
We think big, think strategy and we think about the ultimate employee experience. But why?
In an article by Shakun Khanna, the author stresses about changing the way we as professionals think about employee engagement. The author highlights the need for new ways of measuring and enhancing the “total employee experience” since the world is ultimately changing before our eyes.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is a term relating to the employee’s commitment, their support and connection to the organisation and its mission. Many sources have indicated that employee engagement is one of the critical factors that drives a company to success, especially in today’s competitive market.
The notion is that for engaged employees, it’s more than just a job or a paycheck. It’s a career. The eagerness to take on responsibilities, the passion is found within employees who are supported and feel a sense of belonging to the company. Therefore, the communication between management, superiors, business owners as well as employees is very essential. This communication helps to foster the productivity and a better bottom line for the company.
So, how are we as professionals to ensure that in the virtual office, our employees are engaged?
Here are four ways that we keep our employees engaged while remote working.
Make wellbeing and mindfulness your top priority.
In these times, the frequency of communication is very important as it allows employers to check in on the mental health of their workers. The Forbes website indicates that due to the specific challenges that employees may face during these times it is more of a reason to make checking in a course of habit for HR professionals and their counterparts. However, in doing this ensure that you are not micromanaging your employees as it adds to stress and can potentially kill their motivation and reduce the overall employee outlook.
Ensure that supporting documentation is readily available.
In the international workforce, many companies believe that you are to work smart and efficiently. In Barbados, that is no different as IT support in the various organisations are making sure that content and information is readily available to ensure that the remote workers are not spending the entire day trying to get valuable information in order to meet daily targets. This allows for persons to ‘cover more ground’ as they remain productive and reach short term organizational goals. It also shows that the company is taking an interest in ensuring that they have all the tools they need to help them accomplish their tasks; this goes a long way.
Have a clear policy.
When we say keep persons engaged, it doesn’t mean that they are to be sitting in front of the PC at every hour of the day. This is where your work from home policy is essential. It clarifies the parameters of the daily duties and allows persons who need to have this flexible schedule to work freely and effectively. The policy gives your employees the sense of being a part of an effective organizational culture.
Building a teamwork network
Overall, there are many other ways that employees can be engaged while remote working, but it is up to the organisation to come up with the appropriate measures effectively and efficiently for their culture and business. However, we do believe that a big part of your efforts to secure engagement will lie in creating a culture of teamwork so that no employee feels isolated. It’s no secret that culturally, we Barbadians value highly social interaction and this then translates into the workplace. To this end, we encourage you to join us in our next blog as we continue to look further into remote working and how we can build teamwork during these times. Until then remember to stay safe and wear your masks.
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