The Path to Employee Wellness

Happy Hour Zoom calls – check.?

Group meditation sessions – done.

Virtual games with team members – yep, tried that.?

Virtual recreation of your favorite in-office events – why not?

No-meeting time blocks – sure!?

In the last 19 months of virtual operation we have tried all of the above, and more, to help employees and teams stay engaged and connected. While each activity was met with varying degrees of success, we did learn some important lessons that I’d like to share. The first, even if there is no?one?activity that truly works for everyone, you must continue to try as many as you can. Your employees will appreciate you for them. They all provide a break from the quarantine routine that is a drain on everyone. However, the second lesson learned is more impactful. If you are indeed looking for ONE thing that does work for all – give them?time back to use as they wish.?

At WatchGuard, this second lesson was learned via a couple of stages. We started with an experiment in early 2021 – we added a three-day weekend in both March and April; and employees responded very positively. And then this experiment of giving back time continued into the summer by adding Wellness Fridays. Regardless of an employee’s location, their week ended at 1 PM local time on Friday. In baseball lingo, if those long weekends in March and April were a single, then those Wellness Fridays were home runs! The response was so overwhelming that when they ended, it seemed a fait accompli that we were going to continue them. And that’s exactly what we’re doing — Wellness Fridays have been extended through the end of 2021.?

The skeptics amongst you might be thinking, “Of course, employees like it. Who wouldn’t like time off?!” However, let’s unpack a few important points. To clarify, we are not changing job expectations – people still must get done what they take on. But there is more. Each of us is experiencing this pandemic and associated quarantine very differently, based on our individual constraints and priorities.

• Do you have children at home??
• Where in the home is your office? Do you have privacy??
• What is the level of collaboration required to do your job? Are you spending most of your time in meetings?
• Does your work require you to collaborate with people across multiple time zones?
• And so much more!?

The list of variations is long. All of these illustrate why finding one engagement activity that works for all is so difficult, and why giving time back so that each person can use it as they wish works so well.?????

For some, Wellness Fridays are time to catch up on emails, focused time without interruption to work on projects, or simply extra time to rest and recharge. The key thing is that it’s the employee’s time!?

If improving employee engagement during these tough times is your goal, start by putting employees first, and you will be rewarded not with just high engagement but with higher productivity!?