Guest Contributor
Trending

How CHROs Can Keep the Workforce Motivated Amid COVID

By | Ariaa Reeds

Amid the worldwide lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic, the global workforce is forced to work remotely. Meanwhile, CHROs are to keep them motivated.

Amid the lockdown surrounding the entire globe, employees have been forced to work remotely. And that’s what has put many into isolation. Workers are feeling isolated, and lacking motivation, amid the lockdown situation, whose extension will now be completing four months. The probability of losing down on productivity is quite high, and for the C-suite HR leaders, this is the number one concern at the moment.

Factors that Result in Loss of Productivity While Working Remotely

As per a 2020 Statista survey, 33% of the US workforce reported ‘hardships in communicating with the colleagues’ as the number one difficulty they are facing while working from a remote location.

Challenges faced by the US workers while working remotely in 2020

Source:Statista

The other factors being work interruptions, harder to stick to a routine, difficulty in stopping oneself to continue doing work even after the office hours, feeling of isolation, and the internet connectivity issues.

The big question for every CHRO across the globe, rightnow is, how to keep employees engaged and motivated, and what can be done around it?

The probable, and the most effective solution is, taking help of the advanced virtual communication tech.

Some High-Impact Measures Every CHRO Must Consider to Boost Engagement

Virtual Team Interactions

Among the most impactful ways to boost engagement, and eventually, the organizational productivity, is to step yourself up on the communication part. Daily conference calls over a web communication tool will help keep each team member on the same page. Online meetings are a great way to ramp yourself up on the communication front. Regular communication among the team members will kill the isolation that is prevalent in the current world, given the less social interactions as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

Factors to keep in mind while organizing a virtual meet:

  • The meeting must have a goal and purpose.
  • An elaborate agenda should be prepared well in advance.
  • Meetings should not get overtly extended. Everybody’s time must be respected.

Morale-Boosting Online Gatherings

One of the key benefits of working in an office environment is you get to make personal bonds and connections. A lot of individuals rely on their colleagues to make social interactions. New friendships are being cultivated in the office spaces, almost every day.

The best HR leaders will try to create a similar engaging environment virtually, by organizing fun-filled online team gatherings, once in a while. Such light-hearted virtual meets can help significantly in boosting the morale of the employees, and ultimately, productivity.

Conducting group challenges leveraging the advanced virtual communication HR tech can be an option to include in the virtual gatherings. Similarly, happy hours and trivia nights can be organized by the global HR leaders across their respective organizations.

Amp up the Encouragement Initiatives

When an employee is on a ‘work from home’ regime, it’s very easy for him to get discouraged from time to time. He will not be getting constant feedback on his performance, or on his contribution to the firm’s growth. This can result in a loss of morale, and more importantly, engagement.

As an HR leader, it’s your responsibility to infuse a positive energy in the virtual work environment. You can do so, by constantly offering positive advice, and positive feedback about an employee’s work. Be a little proactive in helping the workforce with achieving their work goals. One-on-one meetings with remote workers is one, and an effective way of inculcating encouragement. 

Increased Collaboration Over Cloud

Making good use of new-age hr technology is equally important to become successful as a CHRO. One aspect of hr tech usage is creation of virtual meeting rooms to foster centralized collaboration and communication. Leveraging cloud-based communication tools will help ensure constant exchange of ideas and information among the members of the team.

The information safety, privacy, & security aspect also remains intact, when an organization makes optimal use of the cloud-based communication infrastructure.

Guidance to Workers on Time-Management

Remote work can be highly taxing when it comes to managing time, as one’s work-life and personal-life gets mixed, while working from home. Workers usually, find it difficult to prioritize tasks on a WFH regime. As a CHRO, you can guide them with time-management strategies, and the hacks to avoid work distractions. Help regarding adhering to a specific schedule must be provided by c-suite leaders in HR.

However, it should be kept in mind while offering advice on maintaining a schedule, that different individuals work in a different way. Each individual possesses a unique personality. Some do their best while working a few hours in the day, while others feel more comfortable in working as per the conventional workday timings.

CHROs must make sure that in the process of offering the time-management hacks and tips, employees’ work flexibility is not getting hampered. At the same time, hr leadership must ensure that the workers are somewhat reasonable in the number of hours they log in on a day-to-day basis.

Prevent Employee Burnouts

You need to encourage workers in taking time off between the work hours. CHROs, also, should motivate their employees to avoid burnouts by not working constantly, post a specific time in the day, or after a certain time duration. With no separation in work and personal life, people tend to blend them, thus leading to exhaustion.

Show More

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button