HOW TO KEEP YOUR STAFF SMILING
IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER T0 MAKE SURE YOUR WORKFORCE ARE HAPPY, SAYS Rosie MURRAY-WEST
KEEPING your workforce happy and well is more important than ever in these tricky times, but some of the more usual ways to build team cohesion, such as Friday night drinks and team-building days out, are out of the question right now.
And with much of the country now under tier 3 restrictions, even those people who were back in the office are returning to their desks on the kitchen table, devoid of the daily face-to-face interaction with colleagues.
So how can employers improve morale? Psychologist and workplace wellbeing expert Ruth Cooper-Dixon (nopanic.org.uk) says that employers should be aware that workforce members may be struggling after the first wave of Covid-19, and that it is really important to understand their state of mind.
‘Just because somebody hasn’t personally experienced Covid or lost a loved one, doesn’t mean that they should be expected to be on top form,’ she says. ‘Existing mental health problems, past trauma, social isolation, a build up of financial or other health stresses – all of these things can impact people in different ways.’
With this in mind, employers need to help their staff to stay positive during the difficult winter ahead.
Keep up the recognition
If you’ve an army of staff working from home, it is easy for them to feel invisible. Neena Jivraj Stevenson, chief cultural officer at Point A Hotels, is working to ensure that staff still get recognised for their achievements with online celebrations.
‘We have turned our recognition programmes virtual – with employee of the month celebrations and quarterly and annual awards ceremonies being run online. We have also treated those who dial in to takeaway vouchers to enjoy while they tune in.’
While Point A’s online celebrations, which have included Dragon’s Den-style competitions, have been cheerful occasions, Neena says there is a serious side to this, too.
‘To keep employees happy and engaged, businesses need to consider both the light-hearted and the serious support options at their disposal,’ she says. ‘We worked with industry body Hospitality Action – the UK’s leading charity for hospitality workers – to give our teams access to professional, confidential support relating to finance, legal, relationships, wellbeing and more.’
Check how they feel
Antonio Wedral is the co-founder of SEO start up Novos. He has been using an online survey called The Happiness Index to help support his staff.
‘I think it is important for companies to have a system in place to check-in regularly with their employees to figure out how they feel and what support
they need,’ he says. The survey sends anonymous surveys to the team asking them about how they feel and why, rating their happiness on a scale of 1-10.
As well as listening, the index has allowed Antonio to put his findings into practice. ‘We found out that our team is stretching themselves to the limit – so we hired new employees to decrease their workload. We also found a correlation between exercise and happiness – staff reported higher happiness levels on the day they exercised,’ he says.
Based on this discovery, the company introduced membership of Headspace, a mental health app, and now offers workout vouchers.
The survey also discovered that not all staff had the right conditions to work from home. ‘We now offer membership of co-working spaces that they can use to work from a nearby coworking space,’ says Antonio.
By continuing with the survey, he can check that the changes are working. ‘After introducing these measures, we have been seeing higher happiness scores,’ he adds.
Focus on mental health
The pandemic has had some positive effects on workplace culture, with employee analytics and engagement firm Peakon saying that wellbeing support has improved.
‘Peakon scores agreeing with the statement that ‘My company really cares about my mental wellbeing’ rose by 7.2 per cent in the UK during the difficult first half of this year.
‘Wellbeing support is just one of the areas where employees reported improvements during this time, along with autonomy, working environment and overall engagement,’ says Rick Kershaw, chief people officer at Peakon.
He urges companies to continue to focus on mental health and wellbeing , even once the current crisis ends.
‘Mental health support shouldn’t just be offered during a crisis – it must be there all year round, every year. Continuous, twoway dialogue is the best way to understand employees’ evolving wants and needs, and to boost their engagement and productivity as a result.’
Find a common charitable goal
Simon Campbell, managing director of interior fit out company Portview, says of all the initiatives to improve staff wellbeing, the focus on giving to others has provided some of the greatest benefits. ‘Even though employees are arguably communicating with each other more than ever before through virtual means, we recognise that this alone is not enough for our employees to still feel engaged and part of a team,’ he says. The company’s employees are telephoning the elderly to provide company in isolation and are also providing Christmas deliveries and essential care packages.
‘This has helped to bring people back together and instil a collective sense of pride, joy and wellbeing,’ Simon says.
Learn together
Ana Casic, media relations coordinator at online training group TalentLMS, says that online language classes have boosted morale at the 100-strong business, which is currently operating entirely remotely.
‘Our company offers virtual Spanish, German, French, Greek, and English language classes to all employees. When learning something new and non-work related, employees are more relaxed and enjoy the experience of sharing the learning journey. They’re not afraid to make mistakes and are having fun learning, which creates deeper engagement levels.’
Create career opportunities
It’s easy to feel we’re all stuck in Groundhog Day, with remote working and uncertainty about the future.
Sarah Hooper, head of HR at law firm Capital Law, says that creating a feeling that everyone can move on, and up, boosts morale.
‘Since March, we’ve continued to recruit and promote lawyers, launched Capital Academy as part of our career development programme, and invested in a new London home for our colleagues and clients in the capital. Recognising success and advancing overall objectives is always rewarding, and even more so when times are tough,’ she says.
The firm has also formed a task force of junior colleagues who meet weekly to discuss what it means to operate virtually and how to cope with remote working. Sarah adds: ‘The task force is now working on delivering a firm-wide virtual meeting in November, to update colleagues on what they’ve been up to and to offer everyone a chance to socialise. We’re really looking forward to it, and plan to make it an annual occurrence in addition to our regular Annual Staff Meeting.’
Have a chat
When lockdown hit, Elizabeth Tweedale, CEO and founder of Cypher, which provides educational coding camps for children around the age of four to 12years-old, decided she needed an app to help with connection – so she coded one. Her virtual coffee programme pairs employees together randomly and assigns them half an hour to catch up on video. ‘When you’re in the office, it’s easy to see if someone is having a tough day, but online that can be so much harder to spot,’ she says.
‘By blocking out time in the day for them to just chat to someone and find out how they are doing has really helped the team. Not only this, but it has brought us closer together despite being far apart, helping to maintain morale and company culture at such a vital time.’