Working from Home and Employee Engagement
Covid has forever changed the working landscape as we knew. Remote work is here, and it is here to stay whether we fully embrace the new work environment or not. Some people simply thrive working in isolation; they are independent, self-starters; they can tap on all the resources in their disposal and train themselves and be nimble to whatever you may ask of them. But let’s be honest, these employees and coworkers are unicorns! At bare minimum, working from home has added new burdens of personal (or family) distraction, being self-sufficient and be comfortable navigating a lot of unknowns. We are in third year of pandemic with no end in sight. The Great Resignation is also underway which is adding new woes to managers and leaders across industries. There is a common plight for help from managers, leaders, and employees, we need people to engage with their work!?
Familiar Story?
Praew works for an advertisement agency. In the beginning of the pandemic, they were all asked to vacate their cubicles, and work from home indefinitely. That was back in February of 2020! Praew’s team does crucial work and consisted of seven analysts who report to a supervisor. First few months of working from home had its initial challenges:??
“Can you hear me?”,??
“My Internet just went down!”,??
“How do I share my screen?”,??
“I cannot access any file on the network drive!”,??
“I am with the helpdesk.”,??
“VPN won’t connect!”,??
“Day care is closed today, I have to take the day off”,??
“Sorry my roommate just walked into the meeting!”,??
… well, you get the picture.??
Once everyone settled into their new work setting, the second reality check came into play: not everyone is participating in the same level! One of the team members, Arthit will often call into meetings from his cellphone, clearly distracted and not fully present. So will Malee who has two young children and working from home has magnified them as they can be heard in the background, taking a toll on Malee’s productivity and performance. Most senior person in the team, Aran, decided to take early retirement and his replacement didn’t last a full year. Fifth person of the team, Somchai has always been an introvert. It’s hard to tell if he’s engaged or not. Sixth person in the team is Anong, surprisingly turned things around since started working from home! Her productivity has been increased while the rest of the team has slipped off. The last person on the team, Chet has turned his two weeks’ notice last week as he has lined up a job with a competitor. Chet was one of the top performers in the pre-pandemic team. With one relatively new team member, and two vacancies, the team is struggling to keep the lights on and it’s not helping that part of the team is not engaged and fully present. Supervisor Anna understands the team dynamics but doesn’t have a sound plan to engage her team and retain veteran employees. If either Praew or Anong decided to leave, she will be in a lot of trouble.???
Understanding Employee Engagement?
According to Gallup (link at the end of the article), only 20% of employees are considered engaged. On the other hand, 14-15% employees are considered actively disengaged or generally, poorly managed. Gallup’s poll also shows the pre-pandemic and pandemic level of employee engagement has vastly remained unchanged.? In other words, the ratio of engaged to disengaged workers has remained the same however some of the problem has come under magnifying glass with changes in work environment and how work is delivered and tracked today.??
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Do We Have a Problem to Solve???
While the employee engagement numbers remained somewhat similar, doesn’t mean we do not have a problem. Disengaged workers are huge liability for employers. There are steps and techniques managers can take to engage their team better. Here are few ideas to get the best out of your people while they work from home:?
1. Encourage social interaction?
Just because everyone is working from home, doesn’t mean they cannot turn their webcams on or have light conversations with coworkers. Start by turning on your own webcam and encourage others to do the same. Perhaps a weekly virtual meeting dedicated for light-hearted conversation that has less to do with work. Tap into your technology resources and be creative! Take turns into facilitating meetings, do polls, activities that require interaction to engage people!?
2. Be considerate and flexible?
It is more important than ever to know your people at work. Try to spend weekly 1:1 time with each of your employees to better understand their needs. Ask and listen to their feedback. Without being too intrusive, take the time to know them at a personal level. If a team member needs extra accommodation, do your best to furnish their request. You will be surprised how a grateful employee can payback with added flexibility. If anyone is struggling, spend time or pair them up with somebody who can help.?
3. Provide Rewards and Recognition?
Openly recognizing an employee’s contribution not only encourages them to keep up the good work but also inspires others. Tangible rewards in the form of raises and bonuses are more crucial than ever especially as we navigate a highly competitive job market, raging inflation and increased cost of living everywhere. Intangible rewards are equally powerful, give your employee a paid day off or ask to sign off early because they had worked so hard the past week. This will improve morale and decrease chances of burn outs.?
4. Foster collaborative environment?
It is important to instill a collaborative culture in the team. You don’t want competition to creep in. Competition has its place but not within the same team. If everyone in the team realizes they are on the same side and help each other out, people will not undo each other’s effort and team will function cohesively. Openly praise people for having each other’s back and create an environment where team members feel encouraged to step in for each other when needed.?
5. Set them up for success??
Properly furnish your team with all the tools, technology, and knowledge they need to success. Invest in tools that boost productivity. Invest in IT infrastructure, newer, easy to use system that is faster, agile, and user-friendly. Clearly communicate expectations and have a formal work from home policy and make sure employees acknowledge and understand said policy. Finally, take your time with new employees, help them set up for success with proper tools and training.??
While work from home has its challenges, employee engagement has not changed from pre-pandemic level. That doesn’t negate the fact that there are still employees that are not engaged to their work. Managers and leaders can improve employee engagement and their bottom lines will see drastic improvement if they succeed. Small changes can have big impact, take the time to identify the problem within your team and then set out to solve it.?
To your work from home success!???