In the throes of a global pandemic, the business world is struggling with the new normal that has been thrust upon it. The economic markets look more uncertain than ever and orders, sales, and profits are lower than they ever have been. If your industry has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 health crisis, you may be struggling to survive in hospitality, retail and tourism. One factor that you cannot underestimate is your staffing structure. As your business model shifts and develops while you try to emerge through the other side of this pandemic, you need to consider your staff remit. Making people redundant is never an easy decision to make, and most startups are utilizing the furlough schemes being brought forward by governments across the globe.
The staff that you have working for you are like a family, and as an employer you have a responsibility to keep them safe, secure, informed, and content. You can facilitate this by being the best boss that you can. This can be challenging when you have cash flow worries and you are dependent on the market picking up. Treat your staff well, with respect, and with transparency, and they will reward you with buy in to your business vision, a strong work ethic, and a willingness to go the extra mile to ensure that your venture survives. Take a look at this guide to help you ensure that your employees remain content and happy in these surreal times.
Communication
As an employer, it is crucial that you are able to communicate effectively with all of your stakeholders. While your customers are important, your employees are too. Think about how you will communicate with them to get the best out of them. Have a Monday morning briefing every week where you set out the goals and targets for the week. This is also the perfect time to bring froward any new initiatives that you want to implement. With everyone in the office in one place, you can also use this as a forum to air views, concerns, and ideas. Listen and act upon those ideas with merit and give credit where it is due.
On a Friday, ensure that you send out an email to your team, detailing the things that went well that week, anything that needs improvement, and any updates that may be coronavirus related. As the world is a very strange place at the moment, your staff can feel bewildered and anxious. Try to reassure them by being honest and transparent. By helping them to remain calm, they will be productive. Have an open door policy and be one of those bosses that gets out onto the office floor to chat to their team. Don’t become the mythical boss that is never seen. This can lead to resentment, a sense that you are out of touch, and discontentment among the ranks.
Tools
It’s vital that you are able to provide the appropriate tools and equipment to your team to help them do their jobs well. Subpar laptops, dodgy WiFi connections, and older software can lead to slower working practices that don’t tap into the latest forward thinking business methodologies. You may have a cohesive team that is eager to perform at their optimum. However, without the kit they need, they may be stuck twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the router to reboot.
Consider purchasing an all-in-one marketing tool for your team to enable them to embrace the digital world and all it has to offer in a more streamlined way. For those businesses that are online-based, this marketing tool could help you set up email marketing lists, develop a sales funnel builder, and really deep dive analyze all aspects of your marketing strategy. This helps your team really excel at their roles and gives them the impetus to drive up sales and develop an exceptional digital marketing strategy that can get you through the coronavirus pandemic.
Think about the furniture and chairs that you have in your workplace. These may be old and standard generic structures where nowadays employees need a more personalized approach to where they set up their laptop. Ergonomically well designed chairs can help those staff team members with back problems, neck issues, and other ailments. By keeping your staff comfortable and pain-free, you will see a more productive attitude from them.
Working from home has been embraced by employers all across the globe in recent months as the pandemic has taken hold and everyone is doing their bit to try and halt the spread of the virus. For many employers, this has been worrying because they assume that their team will use this as an excuse to get up late, work in their pajamas, and do the bare minimum required of them. However, those bosses that have thought more highly of their team have been surprised at just how productive they have been. To keep your employees content and productive, you need to continue with a policy of flexible working. As long as the tasks are completed to a high standard, does it matter whether they were completed at a staff member’s dining room table or in the office? A work from home policy eases the pressure on your team to return to work and can prevent anxiety levels from rising.
Coronavirus-Specific
If you are keen to get your office back up and running post-pandemic, you need to consider the Covid-secure initiatives that you will put in place to keep your staff safe and secure. Think about placing hand sanitizer stations across your workplace, eliminate the hot desking policy you have, put a one way system in place across the site, and ensure that you have face coverings and social distancing measures accounted for.
Many of your team may be nervous about returning to the office, especially if they are looking after vulnerable family members or they have become used to working from home. If you are happy enough for staff members to stay working from home three times a week, facilitate this. This is sensible especially if you are pleased with how productive your team are being.
Keeping your team content means giving them a dynamic workplace to immerse themselves in. Touches of greenery, modern fixtures and fittings, white walls, and plenty of natural light can inspire your team in the office. You may need to redecorate and invest in your immediate environment. However, others will find that they don’t miss the office camaraderie and are more than happy to remain at home to beaver away at their work.
Being a boss that really cares about their employees is necessary if you want to ensure that your team remains happy, productive and content. The global pandemic has made everyone take a step back and reassess their priorities in a personal and professional sense. Help your staff morph to this new normal by being understanding and taking on a more pastoral role. It can be challenging to be more hands-on if you are used to giving your team autonomy. However, your staff will appreciate the reassurance and the higher levels of care without the threat of micromanagement. Set up a dynamic working environment, give your staff the tools they ned to perform well, and don’t be afraid of embracing flexible remote working for the benefit of your business. If you want the best out of your team, you also need to show them how much they are valued. Follow this guide and you can ensure employee contentment at all times.