Keep Your Employees Motivated in These Challenging Times
Businesses around the world have staggered under the impact of the pandemic in the year 2020. Employers have faced many challenges to run their businesses smoothly in these unprecedented times. And one of the biggest questions that employers are asking is – How to keep employee mindset positive in a remote-working environment?
Despite the efforts made by employers to find new ways for the entire workforce to continue their jobs in the ‘new normal’, employee morale is at an all-time low. According to a recent survey by IBM, it was found that 74% of the executives believe that they have helped their employees to learn new skills to work better in the ‘new normal’ but only 38% of the employees agree to this.
The answer lies in EVP (employee value proposition) and Employer Branding. Employer branding conveys the financial, functional, and psychological benefits that are identified with working for an organization. The employer brand is meant to convey the reason why a talented professional will choose to work with your organization. If you build the right employer brand, you have no trouble in finding the right talent for your organization and in inculcating a sense of loyalty among your employees.
Creating an Employer brand is a long-term endeavor. To begin with, an employer should be aware of how their employees and outsiders view the organization. If your organization is not attracting the best talent, find out why and strive to build a brand which can recruit more effectively.
It is also helpful to use social media and job portals to promote your employer brand. And finally, nothing works better than your employees and the sense of pride they feel in being a part of your organization. An employer brand needs to be built and nurtured over the years for it to be an effective tool in a crisis like COVID-19.
Your IT infrastructure should have the potential to adapt to new circumstances. For organizations with high operational scalability and flexibility – it has been much easier to move to a remote-working model.
Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
Here are some ideas that can help you maintain a positive mindset among your workforce during these challenging times:
Scalable & Flexible IT Infrastructure: The pandemic has woken businesses up to the need for adaptability and agility to change. Your IT infrastructure should have the potential to adapt to new circumstances. For organizations with high operational scalability and flexibility – it has been much easier to move to a remote-working model. On the other hand, organizations dependent on rigid processes and obsolete technology have struggled to cope.
Intelligent Workflows based on Emerging Technologies such as automation, AI & Machine Learning: Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation have helped businesses run their operations with efficiency in these challenging times. Support your core processes with AI, automation, machine learning, and cybersecurity to make workflows more intelligent and adaptive. This can create a more responsive and secure environment for your business to thrive despite disruptive changes.
Changing Employee Expectations: Various employee surveys have revealed that employees expect employers to support them for physical and emotional well-being during these challenging times. Amid the pandemic, employees expect support from their organization to adjust to the new ways of working. Learning opportunities for skills that aid remote-working are highly appreciated by employees. New skills are essential for everyone to thrive in these challenging times. Giving employees avenues to build new skills is a great way to enhance your employer brand.
Employees expect employers to support them for physical and emotional well-being during these challenging times.
Photo by christopher catbagan on Unsplash
Appreciate Innovative Efforts to Adapt to the New Normal: While employees and employers everywhere are striving to do the best they can in these unprecedented times – it goes a long way to appreciate the efforts your employees are making. Celebrate innovation – whether it is directly linked to your organization or not. Encourage people to think of newer and more efficient ways of going about their daily activities and appreciate new ideas as well as you can.
The pandemic has brought the business world face to face with an unprecedented challenge. Employers need to proactively find new tools and new ways of working in these circumstances. For every organization, the focus needs to be on moving forward as best as they can. COVID-19 has taught us a lot about running a business during a socioeconomic crisis. But the most important learning for organizations is that it is imperative to be prepared.
Change is always met with resistance, but in today’s environment – change is a necessity for businesses to thrive. Employers should be ready to take bold steps, to implement new working models in a short span of time, to change policies, and to do their best to support their employees when faced with a new challenge. Business agility is the need of the hour, and employers who understand that can not only overcome challenges, they can also build better employer brands that people aspire to work for.
