The world continues to battle the health and economic consequences brought about by COVID-19. To flatten the curve, many companies have decided to temporarily cease or decrease their operations in light of the governments’ strict social distancing and stay-at-home orders. However, some businesses have been able to continue work by making the necessary adjustments.
If your business can resume through a work-from-home setup, you’ll need to take note of the best practices in remote management. Even though telecommuting comes with its fair share of perks, it also has its own set of challenges. Some of your workers may have difficulty adjusting to the new setup. This may eventually lead to unproductivity or unreasonably huge loss of profit.
As the head of your team, one of your biggest responsibilities is to make your employees feel valued and included. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, taking the necessary measures to optimize employee performance and improve satisfaction levels will ensure business continuity at the highest level.
To help your company get through this difficult period, the guide below will discuss six things you can do to improve employee retention.
Double down on team engagement
Now that you’ve adopted a work-from-home setup, know that communication will be a vital component to your success. Since physical interaction is now limited, your team members are likely to have difficulties discussing projects and handling collaborative tasks.
If you want to encourage pro-active communication among your team members, doubling down on team engagement is a must. This is vital if your department has new hires. Having a virtual coffee session or hosting a fun activity such as quiz nights can be an excellent way for your employees to bond.
Remind them to maintain a strong sense of work-life balance
Working from home blurs the boundaries between one’s professional and personal life. Since your employees are spending most of their waking hours cooped up inside their homes, it’s incredibly easy for them to lose track of time. If they’re unable to manage their hours properly, they may end up working longer shifts, and this can significantly affect their well-being.
To keep burnout at bay, you must always remind your team members to maintain a strong sense of work-life balance. You can encourage your employees to clock-in and clock-out at the same time so that everybody establishes a stronger sense of routine. Reminding them to make time for exercise and their loved ones can also go a long way for their mental health.
Emphasize training and development
Many employees tend to leave companies because there are no longer opportunities for growth. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding your organization, you must always emphasize the value of life-long learning.
Now that your team members have saved precious hours usually meant for commuting, the free time they’ve gained gives you several opportunities to boost their development. Online seminars and classes are now incredibly cheap, and investing in a training program can be a very lucrative investment.
Other than improving their overall competency, providing learning opportunities will ultimately convince your employees to stay with you.
Give recognition where it’s due
Pandemic or not, giving recognition to your staff can go a long way. It may not seem obvious, but your employees want to feel appreciated for the work that they do. With them doing all sorts of tasks even amidst the pandemic, thanking them for doing more than the bare minimum will do wonders for their confidence.
With this in mind, you should always have an attitude of gratitude. Aside from having the right compensation, incentives, and reward systems, there are many things you can do daily to show your appreciation.
Explaining how their hard work is helping the team, sending out gift cards for their wins, and acknowledging their excellence during a company or team-wide meeting are some simple yet effective things you can do.
Subsidize a portion of their work-from-home expenses
Make working from home easier for your employees. Since the company’s monthly electricity bills and other miscellaneous expenses have decreased due to the office temporarily closing down, you can use the money saved to subsidize the expenses of your employees.
You can allocate a portion of your company’s budget to pay for their internet plan and even give them some food allowance. If you want to ensure the comfort of your employees, you can also help them set up their home office by giving them ergonomic tables and chairs.
Retain Your Employees During the Pandemic
If there’s one thing we can learn from the pandemic, it’s always to expect the unexpected. Since there’s no way to predict when a crisis as big as COVID-19 will occur again, HR leaders should plan for these kinds of scenarios to ensure the stability of their company.
As you make the shift towards remote work, keeping these retention strategies in mind will allow your employees satisfied even after the pandemic has passed.