Do you know which of your employees are thriving and those who are barely surviving at any one time? Especially in the alternate universe 2020 has flung us all into! Change in the workplace can be difficult for us all, but add a good dollop of disruption, fear, economic downturn and working from home, and we can all be forgiven for getting the odd jitter.
You could categorize your employees into three broad groups; the Thrivers, Survivors and those Barely Surviving.
The Thrivers
Thrivers, on the whole, have adapted to the current environment and appreciate the opportunity to stay safe and work from the comfort of their home, close to their family. They have found a routine that works for them and are confident they maintain, or even surpass, the productivity levels they were achieving prior to any disruption. They are quick to pick up on perceived benefits, such as time and money saved on travelling when working from home. They secretly hope for this to become the new norm and generally feel happy and at peace with work and life in general.
The Survivors
The Survivors are not particularly happy with the 2020 status quo, miss their colleagues and may struggle to draw clear boundaries between work and homelife when it all takes place under the same roof. As soon as it’s safe to do so, they’ll be heading back to the office in droves with big smiles on their faces and elbow bumping everyone they meet. For now, they believe they are in a holding position until it’s safe to venture back to the workplace, and so dutifully slog through-out the day ensuring they at least cover the bare essential work tasks.
The Barely Surviving
The Barely Surviving group are the ones that need the most support. Despite putting in the hours, they struggle to see progress and pine for the social interaction only a thriving work base with camaraderie and shared goals can provide. They probably have personal commitments they are struggling to juggle alongside work and feel like they are drowning in a never-ending sea of monotony and confusion. They may have taken a pay reduction, be putting in more hours, and feel they are under-achieving against their own goals never mind anyone else’s.
Why you need to know
We are all individual sentient beings and likely to react differently to a set of scenarios and conditions. It would be wrong to try and second guess who will fall into which category based on what you know of their home life, personal circumstances or work history.
But by identifying team players by these or similar categories, organisations have the opportunity to support those in need, encourage the survivors and commend the current star players and take learnings from what is working well.
The CIPD feature on the Impact of COVID-19 on Working Lives, especially around well-being and mental health, and holds no surprises. It also provides worrying statistics on concerns around returning to work / the workplace following working from home or life on furlough.
Putting your finger on the pulse
The best way to do this is to invest in a dedicated communication channel for clear and direct 2-way feedback between leaders and employees. To gain real-time insights into key topics, events and strategies from the people that can make or break an organisation: its employees. To provide a safe place where those team members who are struggling can have a voice and seek the support they need.
Engage provides such a communication channel, allowing leaders to keep their fingers on the pulse, see which employees are thriving and those who are barely surviving, and importantly, get a feel for how outside factors may be influencing a demographic. This in turn provides leaders with the information needed to form winning strategies with employees concerns and sentiments addressed at a foundational level.
Email enquiries@theengagementworks.com today to book your appointment for a confidential discussion and no obligation demo. We are fully transparent about our licence pricing and provide a ROI calculator …just incase you need convincing of the value of good employee engagement.
