Tuesday, March 19, 2024
HomeBusinessHow You Can Support Your Employees Amid the Pandemic

How You Can Support Your Employees Amid the Pandemic

Despite lockdown protocols easing in some countries, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rock the office space, leaving business owners struggling to keep their staff engaged.

The sudden shift of routines in work and the pressure of maintaining facilities or keeping industries afloat are taking their toll on many employees, leaving most with no choice but to quit.

As a business leader, it’s your job to keep them engaged and feel secure. Just like having insurance for the home makes property owners feel safe and protected, knowing their company is behind them during these challenging times can set employees’ minds at ease.

To help you out, here are five ways you can provide the much-needed support that your employees need.

Ask Sick Employees to Stay Home with Full Pay

Many workers tend to continue going to work even when they’re sick, and a significant factor is a lack of paid time off. Other factors include following a work-design feature that pressures employees to work even when sick, including understaffing and work overload. This situation could be a problem, especially during a time when health is more important than ever.

If you want to avoid presenteeism (workers going to work while sick) to ensure a healthier workplace and happier staff members, provide paid sick leave, and don’t force employees to work if they feel ill.

Incorporate’ Job Crafting’ to Help Employees Identify Their Unique Roles

Experts suggest that most employees’ stress results from the pressure of balancing job demands and resources. However, if you provide adequate resources to employees, they will more likely feel less stressed even when faced with the highest job demands.

You can achieve this by incorporating job crafting. It’s where you allow workers to modify different aspects of their jobs tailored to their specific needs, abilities, and preferences, improving their overall well-being and productivity.

If you support and help your workers engage in job crafting, it can help improve employee well-being even during these challenging times.

You May Like to Read: COVID-19 Financial Impact on the Economy

Facilitate ‘Social Time’

Employee happiness and successful organizational outcomes go hand in hand together as employees become more productive and motivated when they’re happy. That’s why providing ‘social time’ for your workers is a great way to ensure happiness, productivity, and engagement.

You can do this by creating opportunities for informal conversations among staff members before a formal meeting, hosting bi-weekly happy hours, or having a socially distanced picnic.

Accommodate High-Risk Employees

In most countries, employers are responsible for taking care of their workers’ health and welfare by providing reasonable accommodations, and those who are at high risk of COVID-19 infection are no exception.

That’s why you should establish and maintain transparent communication with all your staff to accurately pinpoint which staff members are prone to the virus and what medical accommodations would suit their specific needs the best.

Check with Employees

Finally, the simplest way you can provide the much-needed support your employees need is by checking in with them once in a while. After all, outside the endless meetings and business proposals, the workplace is a communal space where people can make meaningful connections with colleagues.

You can do this by scheduling virtual meetings or calls with your direct reports and taking the time to strike up a short conversation outside of work while staying in a legally compliant place.

Implementing the mentioned incentives to your operations can help you and your employees go through this crisis together, beating the odds and achieving ultimate success.

More from MoneyVisual

Recent Posts

Most Popular

Educational Topics