The Time for Renewed Commitment to Employee Well-being is Now!

The pandemic merged our private lives and workspaces. That was necessary to enable a quick adjustment by all to work from home (WFH). Some reported that in the early Covid days, WFH was easier, with a newfound sense of being free of schedules dominating the mind.

But things have changed now.

Remote working has settled in for an extended time and that has coincided with economic activity picking up sharply. As that happens, increased work pressures, fatigue, and physical dissociation from workplaces are manifesting as complex challenges. Every aspect of employee well-being, physical, mental, and emotional is being impacted.

It's clear, now is the time, to renew organizational efforts and commitments to employee health and well-being!

What are the primary concerns and how to arrive at a win-win for both organization and employee well-being?

1. Social workplace interactions:

Social interaction was taken for granted in the office. In the extreme, it was frowned upon as a time waster but in moderation, it was a useful de-stressor. The office coffee vending machine or teatime catch-up has now disappeared. With increased workloads and physical isolation, the virtual workspace is completely focused on work. I have written about how this is bad for employees, teams, and the organization.

Employee interactions are essential to provide a mental connection with the distant virtual organization, affirming your role in a real team, and providing emotional stability and job focus. So, how to provide that?

·?????Managers and team leads must commit to this affirmation and orchestrate daily team huddles and scheduled virtual team-building exercises.

·?????We should use casual team meetings to onboard new employees enabling them to get familiar with the team, showcase their strengths, and create their place in the team. Use a buddy system for settling down newcomers.

·?????Repeat activities to yield effective results in team spirit and bonding which is essential for employee well-being.?The focus should be connectivity at all levels in teams!

2. One-to-one communication:

Working long hours at homes with less privacy and bad connectivity can trigger mistakes and increased doubts about one's capabilities, sending a person on a downward mental and emotional spiral. With deadlines and deliveries and no support or planned mentoring, employees literally have their back against the wall, affecting their mental health and stability. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, with remote work, it is also becoming more common for one-to-one communications to be more transactional and designed to affix blame. Obviously, this must change. Here’s how.

·?????Project leads in organizations must keep communication lines open and operate from a space of proactive empathy setting an example of behavioural leadership.

·?????De-stigmatize asking for help and create a culture of non-judgmental conversations.

·?????Managers can schedule weekly one-on-one meetings with team members, to discuss work progress, challenges, and give feedback with support to prevent directionless work and operational silos.

·?????Offering ideas and technical advice to address issues or roadblocks can build trust in the relationship, creating the opportunity to reach out for help on personal issues if required.

·?????Most young employees hailing from smaller cities face connectivity issues that affect delivery performance. They may also lack the confidence to confide in seniors with their problems. Managers must be a catalyst for peer support for employees.

·?????Managers must use individual meetings with subordinates as opportunities to look out for signs of burnout or mental stress. The organization may want to provide helplines for professional counselling along with support and authorize breaks and leaves if there are any signs of overwork.

3. Prioritization and Work Cut off:

Often employees, especially freshers do not understand the prioritization of work. This is stuff you learn. By observing others. Without that opportunity, everything looks like an urgent deliverable that pushes them to work overtime. It’s important that every workday must have a cut-off time, even at home!

·?????Managers can instil the process of prioritization and setting limits in personal schedules, encouraging employees to do the same. Schedules for tasks have to be maintained making it a practice that filters down to individual levels.

·?????Encourage a cut-off time for the workday, or when necessary, flexible timings to do individual work as per personal convenience. Communicate clearly regarding the same.

·?????Meetings should strictly follow pre-decided schedules and agendas to prevent meeting fatigue and give everyone time to work during work hours.

5. Monitoring Physical Health:

Most employees in the industry come from a younger age group. Being young leads them to believe that they are in prime health! We all thought we were bulletproof when we were young! This pandemic has clearly proved that theory wrong! Working long hours for months at the computer with less physical movement, combined with uncertain mealtimes or a quick meal of junk food is taking a huge toll on physical health, which can cause major issues later in life. Try to change this.

·?????Create a culture of nurturing physical health and awareness organization-wide.

·?????Managers should educate teams on the benefits of short spurts of exercise that can fit in anywhere in the daily schedule.

·?????If a meeting is an audio call not requiring computer data, encourage employees to walk around and talk. I know people who set themselves a steps goal for the day and they value audio calls a lot because they help them get there!

·?????Organize talks with professionals on nutrition and health as a team activity.

·?????Organizations can send online reminders to employees to take medical tests.

5. Bring back the joy of being at work! :

Working in isolation, without physical team interactions, facing a computer all day is an environment that can foster anxiety and negativity! The workplace must virtually shift to the happy, engaging place it used to be, with fun as a de-stressor, removing drudgery from work. Can that be done? Well, we can try.

·?????Leaders should use every opportunity to use recognition as a tool of motivation. Morning huddles or weekly meetings can be used to publicly appreciate or thank any small acts of innovation or collaboration in teams. It generates positivity in teams and encourages a culture of gratitude for work done well.

·?????Include customers in quick virtual calls of appreciation for anyone going the extra mile.

·?????Encourage team nominations for employee of the month or quarter to generate energy and fun. Make it a virtual party by setting a simple menu that everyone can produce.

·?????Organizations can use animated fun messages to communicate or celebrate any event or start of a workweek.

Employee well-being is vital to organizational success. It requires a multi-pronged approach and has to be a focused activity in the managerial agenda. I believe that it’s time to make the conscious effort and reap the success of having healthy, joyful, and productive teams!