The UK’s second lockdown is now well underway and it’s almost two months since office workers were encouraged to work from home again. As the shorter days, longer nights, colder temperatures and enforced, extended periods of time spent at home leave Britain’s workforce longing for the freedom it experienced over the summer and early autumn, organisations will be aware that we’re entering another tricky time when employee engagement will be severely tested.
What should businesses focus on to help them get through the testing months ahead?
Establish connection and belonging
The rise in remote working is exacerbating worker loneliness, according to a Buffer State of Remote Work Report. It’s no fun feeling lonely, but the long-term health effects may be even more worrying than we’d previously suspected. Research conducted by psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad from Brigham Young University has revealed that loneliness is linked to premature death, plus mental health and cardiovascular issues.
Establishing a supportive community creates a sense of connection and belonging in your workplace. Aside from boosting company morale, this feeling of connection tends to make employees work harder and smarter, leading to higher-quality work. This sense of belonging is particularly important for remote workers.
Embed recognition into your culture
Organisations’ methods for offering recognition have changed massively in the last decade. Employers have realised that employee recognition software can deliver far more value than the traditional “years of service” awards. Recognition comes in many forms, including social recognition, points-based recognition (in which employees can redeem points for rewards) and digital cards to celebrate special occasions or achievements. Peer-to-peer recognition is especially important, which is why nearly two-thirds of organisations feature it in their own recognition programme.
In order to improve your employer brand, you should aim to upgrade your employees’ recognition experience so that every employee feels appreciated on a frequent and regular basis. Remember that the appetite for recognition is likely to be larger now than it has been for a long time. When we asked employees how their organisations could better support them through the COVID-19 pandemic, more than a third (35 per cent) wanted more recognition.
Recognition enables you to engage employees in both online and offline environments. Recognising employees frequently and in an inclusive way is a great way of motivating them. As they’ve become aware of this, many organisations have begun to include recognition programmes in their HR strategy. In the last year, a fifth of employers have implemented programmes, demonstrating that recognition is no longer a nice-to-have, but more of a must-have.
Still not convinced by this HR trend? Have a look at these two statistics:
- Employees using a recognition and rewards platform are 72 per cent more likely to strongly endorse their culture of recognition than non-users.
- Organisations who support frequent recognition are 41 per cent more likely to benefit from increased employee retention and 34 per cent more likely to witness improved employee engagement.
Practising frequent and inclusive recognition makes every employee feel valued on a regular basis.
Remote working becomes the norm
Finding new ways to engage remote workers is always a challenge. Before the first lockdown in March, a ONS UK labour market study found there were 1.7 million people working remotely in the UK, with many more working in the field. Although engaging a remote workforce can prove difficult, remote working is an HR trend that isn’t going away anytime soon, so employers have to face up to it, particularly employers who are only beginning to move to remote working. As working patterns shift to remote working becoming the norm, productivity is becoming more of a focus.
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Fortunately, technology is on hand to help us. Technology facilitates collaboration and innovation, and can allow organisations to develop engagement in a virtual environment. HR tech offers collaborative devices and cloud computing to enable employees to work in new ways and increase productivity. You can choose from a vast range of communication channels to set up internal social networking sites, meetings, or even online social events. Organising such events and improving internal communication helps to reinforce employee connections and company culture.
The next few months will be testing for most organisations as they try to ensure that their workforce is as suitably equipped as possible to cope with the demands of a long winter in potentially isolating conditions. By fostering a sense of community, embedding recognition into their culture and supporting remote workers with appropriate technology, employers will reap the rewards in terms of improved employee engagement and greater productivity.
By Jon Maddison, Managing Director EMEA at Achievers.
