You have first-class talent onboard. Most of your employees can do the job in their sleep, all while juggling a myriad of side projects. In fact, they are the pillars that keep your organization strong and drive it forward at a breakneck pace.
The only problem is—some of them aren’t exactly cut out for extended telecommuting, especially during a time of social distancing when they don’t have enough outlets for social interaction. On top of that, they are scared for their health, their continued employment, and their personal finances, which might reflect on their productivity levels.
To address it, businesses can tap into the power of robust employee morale strategies that will help keep employees’ spirits high during the pandemic.
Default to All-Hands-On-Deck Mentality
Based on a recent study, an eye-popping 57 percent of employees have little to no trust in their leaders. There’s more: the Trust Barometer report from Edelman finds that a third of employees have trust issues with their employers.
Why is it the case?
Lack of transparency, which has only exacerbated as organizations had to take a mass dive into lockdown. Meetings moved behind private chat groups, a layer of management was formed, with fewer people involved in making critical business decisions. As a result, most employees have ceased to receive regular updates on what’s going on a company-wide scale, which effectively erodes morale and dents engagement.
Solution? Pull back the curtain on transparency and continually communicate (e.g., at all-hands meetings) what decisions are made, how and why they are made, as well as ensure each company action is anchored in a set of universal operating principles.
Once you prove you’re willing to be raw with your people, you’ll see the employee morale curve shoot upwards.
Fix Leadership Issues across the Board
Give people freedom, and they’ll amaze you—Laszlo Bock, former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google.
Perhaps, some of the managers behind the wheel of your organization give direct reports a lot of autonomy in how they do their work. Others tend to be more hands-on and prefer to have the ultimate control over employees’ day-to-day tasks and projects.
In reality,—neither is right or wrong. Intel’s co-founder Andy Grove (in his book High Output Management), claims that management isn’t one size fits all.
Employees that lack sufficient on-the-job experience need guidance and support from their direct managers. When there’s no one to offer a helping hand, they start to feel overwhelmed, and, as a result, their morale might nosedive.
But with top-performing employees that have a superb blend of soft skills as well as hard skills —the opposite is true. Chances are, they’ve been with the company for a long time and have become exceptionally good at what they do. The last thing they want is to have a manager that micromanages them.
So—if you’re looking to propel employee morale within your organization during COVID-19, adjust how hands-on or off your managers are with direct reports based on their experience levels within their roles.
Provide Opportunities for Professional Development and Growth
Did you know?
Based on the findings of ClearCompany, a full 68% of employees believe professional development is the most important workplace policy. That makes sense because most employees tend to lose steam when they are in a rut.
So—
To incentivize the stay-at-home policy, businesses can encourage employees to use their downtime to grow their muscles by devouring bleeding-edge industry knowledge or picking up new skillsets. As a result, you’ll send up a clear message that your people are your top-value asset, and you’re willing to invest in their growth and development.
Below are five employee growth ideas:
- Introduce a personal development fund to back up employees’ professional interests within reason.
- Sign employees up for professional development classes and training courses.
- Encourage staffers to earn a certification to sharpen their skills.
- Provide mentorship opportunities for new hires to help them get up to speed.
- Purchase books for employees and send them as part of a care package.
