Driving Employee Experience During COVID
Initially, when COVID hit, employers were left scrambling for solutions. They picked up whatever looked like the best solution at the time and went with it. Zoom meetings and slack replaced the in-person interaction we had been used to for almost 200 years!
During the lockdown, employees were just happy to still have a job. Employers were content with just being able to maintain productivity and meet deadlines. It was new and we somehow all really hoped it would end soon.
Companies have to rethink now!
Now that we have truly grasped the implications of this pandemic, companies are now starting to evaluate each step of the employee experience. We all realize that employee experience, especially during COVID-19, is not something we can leave to chance. While employees are working from home. HR is trying to figure out their problems and maybe set-up home offices for some employees. While substituting travel allowance with wellness allowance for others.
In effect, companies are reevaluating the entire value proposition of working for them. Work from home does not have the social interaction element. So, companies are arranging all hand virtual meetings. A mandatory coffee meets where everyone just turns on their cameras and talks to their colleagues. Even monthly interest groups or themed discussions about employee interests and hobbies.
Challenges of Work from Home
It’s really hard for highly extroverted employees to be stuck at home all day every day. So, in some companies, the Human Resource department is now even doing monthly check-ins. Some employees are having trouble maintaining routines because they don’t have the structure of having to wake up on time to get to the office etc.
All in all, employees are facing novel and interesting challenges. And companies are kind of struggling as well, to identify and tackle those challenges. Companies were using open spaces, modern furniture, and lots of natural light to create a work-friendly atmosphere in the office. But . . .
- How do you do that when employees are working from home?
- How do you show company culture when employees are still not sure about a complete return to the workspace?
- How do you innovate when you can’t collaborate face to face?
These are some really common challenges. And frankly, no-one has a perfect solution. Some employees still need a gentle nudge to change their approach to work from home. So they can come back to pre-COVID productivity levels. Some employees need a helping hand and some just need a new desk.
All employees and companies are facing different ones during these trying times. While some of us (introverts) have taken a liking to the idea of working from home. A lot of us did not have a proper workspace at home. So they have had to make do with whatever they had.
Times of great disruption are also times of great opportunities.
We have companies coming up whose entire business model is to set-up the perfect employee-centric workstation at home.
So now the ball is in the court of the companies. They have to choose if their company culture is just words or are they willing to put in the effort to live up to it. To provide the right hardware to employees. To check-in with them. From time to time. To have an all-hands meeting on company time. To continuously work to understand employee problems and empathize with them.
Perhaps most importantly, employees want companies to care. To put their money where their mouth is and work to ensure a better employee experience. Everyone understands it won’t be perfect. But employees want to see their companies trying to live up to their own ideals and company culture statements. And the simplest way to start is to offer them the right hardware.
Our Bottom Line
Successful organizations create intentional solutions to address the intersection of people’s needs—physical, cognitive, and emotional—to achieve desired outcomes. Our team of experts understands the requirements and provides solutions that adapt better to the type of workforce and business. We also provide custom solutions to adjust to the diverse type of social, technological, and supplementary needs. When you are looking for the perfect solutions drafted to cater to your specific needs in these unprecedented times. We can help!
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Michelle Sample
marketing@peoplespace.com
