5 Tips to Boost Employee Engagement During the Pandemic

Challenges and risks are a normal part of running a business in every industry. Still, unprecedented crises such as the ongoing pandemic tend to push companies to new limits and beyond.

Many business leaders have had to adapt their operational processes and move to remote work, while others have had to find creative, hybrid solutions to keep their companies going. Contributing during the pandemic has become the norm, but so many have been on the brink of closure that they’ve had to find help themselves.

Even if you haven’t experienced such extreme problems that compromise your company’s existence, one common issue has emerged among all businesses during this crisis: employee engagement.

While every business strives to boost customer engagement across the board, many have no means to do the same with employees, and yet, it’s pivotal to keep your business going. The following ideas are designed to help push your company forward and enable better employee engagement during these stressful times.

Offer flexibility in the workplace

Now that your employees face so many limits and restrictions, and their lives have changed dramatically over the past few months, you can help elevate engagement by granting them a stronger sense of control.

First and foremost, empower your employees to structure their work hours more freely. If they have toddlers at home, they’ll appreciate this, especially if they take care of their elderly parents, equally so.

Flexibility in determining their work hours and collaborative projects will help them connect with ease. Still, it will also provide them with enough space to work when they are most productive, which will, in turn, be beneficial for your organisation.

Get creative with team building

Team-building events are at the very core of employee engagement, but when trips aren’t the most suitable option due to the pandemic, you need to get creative.

For example, you should consider digital team-building ideas that help your employees connect over an activity they all enjoy, such as happy hour on Fridays or a movie marathon. You can also set up game nights and trivia nights to help employees regularly connect over interactive content.

Remember that this crisis is also a solid chance for your teams to bond over doing good together. You can organise charitable activities and outdoor events of a smaller scale to enforce social distancing and still help your community.

Use engagement-boosting tools

With the pandemic came the need for switching to remote work and combining on-site with remote work, as well. This change has caused several collaboration issues, but they can all be seamlessly resolved with tools that enhance employee engagement with easier communication and transparency.

Time-management software helps you keep track of your remote and on-site schedules, and it often comes with features that empower real-time communication among your employees.

Simplified communication takes the stress out of this ever-changing process, thus helping your teams get used to the new processes more easily, without wasting any time or energy. On a more permanent level, you can leverage the data available through this software to recognise recurring issues and then introduce smarter patterns to resolve problems and be more productive.

Organise weekly video calls

In times of chaos, the structure can be exceptionally helpful. Knowing that you can make sure that your employees have the necessary workplace structure and stability that will give them the peace of mind they need to engage with one another and their work truly. A weekly video call with a clear agenda can give them an overview of your expectations for the day and the week ahead.

That alone can be enough to prompt better engagement since they’ll know how much work they need to put in and how they can distribute their hours effectively.

You can use these calls to brainstorm creative solutions to current issues and thus keep your employees engaged with all company-related changes. With access to so many digital tools, you can easily conduct these video calls, share your agenda, and collaborate in real-time to inspire better productivity.

Provide ample support

Engagement at work depends on so much more than the culture and professional environment you’ve developed over the years.

Unfortunately, when your teams cannot get enough sleep because their kids are constantly at home and there’s no school, and when they don’t hydrate or exercise – they’ll be distracted, exhausted, and not engaged. While you cannot be responsible for each individual under your wing, leading a healthy lifestyle, you can help them get there.

By providing support, you can nudge them in the right direction. Offering professional counselling on the premises (or via the phone when social distancing is needed), suggesting a one-on-one conversation to help them hash out their issues, and offering a fitness program your company can pay for can all help. Look for ways to help your employee feel valued outside the office and provide them with various resources to lead a healthy life.

Engagement comes from several factors 

As you can see, engagement depends on several internal and external factors, some of which you can control and shape while you have no access to others. This can be your guide in finding creative ways to boost employee engagement and inspiring people to actively build your brand one day at a time, without perceiving that as a burden in these difficult times.

Hopefully, you’ll use these ideas to empower engagement in your organisation and help your employees thrive.

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