How Leaders are Building and Strengthening Employee Engagement in Difficult Times
It was 2019 a few blinks ago and now it’s 2021. Many of us have experienced the transition of workplaces from physical to remote to a hybrid flexible model, and then back to working from home. For many leaders, this has meant evolving their organizational culture to match pace with the changing times through new policies and procedures to make workplaces more flexible and safe for their employees. Now organizations are looking beyond flexible work models, and trying to re-imagine their employee engagement, and re-invent processes and touchpoints that align with the desired company culture.
Employee engagement remains relevant in the remote workplace, but now, it means that leaders have to read social cues, gauge interactions, and understand employee morale through digital interactions. While it is challenging, a recent study in 2019 indicates that employee engagement can be improved even during hard times if companies make strategic decisions at the right time. Employee engagement should be a top priority in both good and more challenging times, as it helps employees maintain positive attitudes, motivation and prosper in their roles.
How often should I be measuring engagement? (Hint: Consistent culture building activities that materialize in the long term are key)
Successful leaders have benefited from daily check-ins; however, every organization has its own goals and cultural values that shape the frequency, form, and topic of the interaction. Regular communication is recommended, where there is an ongoing dialogue. Surveys can help, but there’s a balance to strike between collecting information often enough and causing survey fatigue and therefore low response rates with check-ins that are too frequent. Plus there’s the challenge of inherent bias in surveys in the first place. Monthly catch-ups, and a formal annual survey, have been some of the legacy strategies employed. However, check-ins that are integrated into the culture of an organization will have greater success than the formal check-ins completed annually.
What are top employers doing to keep their employees engaged?
What can we learn from leaders who are paving the way and creating engaged teams successfully? These workplaces have been able to maximize their human potential through effective leadership, meaningful connections, and a deep foundation of trust.
Cisco (#1 in Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for, 2021)
Fran Katsoudas, Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer at Cisco said “Listening to employees [was the] number one priority. The second step was to make some key changes to our core people processes and technology and not shy away from sharing uncomfortable truths”. Among other things, Cisco’s notable initiatives included:
Ensuring employees had all the information that they needed for themselves and their families.
Interactive visits from medical and health practitioners during company meetings in efforts to have employees' questions and concerns about Covid-19 answered by experts.
Transparent and authentic communication by leadership; listening and sharing personal experiences.
Bain & Company (#1 on Glassdoor’s best places to work for five years in a row)
Glassdoor states “As COVID-19 cannibalized the job market, causing millions of layoffs, this year's list was the most competitive to date. However, Bain & Company beat out the competition by prioritizing their workforce and expanding their philanthropic efforts”. Here’s how Bain & Company did things differently:
Facilitated the needs of their employees through initiatives such as global transfers, parental leaves, extra time off, leaves of absence, and flex-time.
Employees were assigned a home office program manager, who worked to coach individuals and expose them to different teams for career growth and development.
Heavy investment and focus in DEI in light of the BLM movement and other events of 2020. They focused on hiring employees with unique backgrounds and allowing employees to be their true selves at work.
Wave Financial (Canada-based company, up and coming industry leader)
Based in Toronto, Wave is an inclusive and flexible workplace that strives to grow and support both its customers and employees. Here’s what Wave has been doing for their employees:
Managing an adaptive workplace plan to adjust to employee preferences, keeping employees’ safety and the requirement for human connection in mind.
"Wavers" are trained to understand and counter bias, explore ally-ship, understand micro-aggressions, and unlearn racism through Wave's mandatory Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Anti-Racism programs built with external experts. Wave also conducts a voluntary annual survey to improve diversity and inclusivity practices.
The Women@Wave program welcomes women across industries at a senior executive level, providing an opportunity for dialogue by hearing directly from those leaders on a monthly basis, as an exclusive session for Women-identifying Wavers.
What can I, as a remote team leader, do to increase engagement within my team?
Many teams are enjoying a productive and inclusive remote workplace culture despite various challenges. There’s a lot to learn from leaders who are dipping their toes in the waters unknown (read about it here).
Here are some ways in which you can better engage with your remote employees:
1. Meaningful communication and presence from leadership
“When co-located, leaders often implicitly transmit culture by modeling behaviors and values in the presence of their employees” (Pamela Hinds and Brian Elliott, HBR).
A leader’s presence can act as a major influence in helping employees feel connected to their roles, shoulder responsibility, and motivate them to achieve future promises. In difficult times, leadership needs to be more visible for the team to truly feel the ‘We’re in this together’ mentality.
Leaders can be digitally present for their employees through regular and predictable communication. The key is being accessible in a forum where employees can get in touch with you. It can be a one-to-one conversation or a team meeting. The important factor is that employees feel seen and heard by the organization.
2. Support your employees by investing in their requirements
The right office equipment can help employees create their oasis of productivity even when they are away from the physical office space. Help your team perform better by giving them the right tools that they need to do their jobs efficiently. Proper technology is the most critical requirement in a remote workplace. Ensure that your employees have access to the relevant technologies and platforms across your organization.
3. Set routines and embrace structure
In the context of an abrupt shift to remote work, it’s been a challenge for all of us to merge the two separate worlds that were once the ‘Office’ and the ‘Home’. In a world where your living room is your conference room, it’s important that one understands the significance of office-based rituals and try to integrate them in this hyper-connected remote workplace. Encouraging your employees to establish work and home time boundaries will help avoid information overload and early burnout. Want to read more about setting routines? Here’s a neat article that will help you set a routine that works for you.
4. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and real
Navigating the pandemic has been hard enough, not to mention the professional and personal obligations we are all under. Keeping up a facade that everything is alright is not only difficult, but unhelpful in the long run. It is proven that employees feel greater social connection and positivity towards their leader when their leader shares personal experiences. Showing you’re human can strengthen digital connections. While we're not suggesting having counselling sessions with your employees, sharing when you are feeling unproductive or excited about something goes a long way with your team members!
5. Talk is good
Small-talk and quick hellos were a part of most of our everyday lives when we worked in a physical office space. The commute to work and morning interactions served as transitions that helped employees prepare for the day ahead. Based on research, chance encounters and spontaneous conversations with coworkers can spark collaboration, improve creativity, innovation, and performance.
The solution? There are a lot of fun informal activities remote teams can engage in. Virtual hangouts on Slack, Meet, or Zoom where teams can socialize, share stories, play games, or enjoy a virtual happy hour on Fridays (always a crowd pleaser) are effective ways in creating genuine connections in virtual environments.
The future of remote work looks exciting and ripe with opportunities for leaders to re-imagine company culture and their relationship with their employees. The best way to navigate the new era of work is to adapt quickly. It will take a few experiments to get there, but the result of a connected, engaged workplace is worth it.
The path towards an inclusive, engaged workplace can be easy and rewarding. That’s why we came up with Coach, a connectivity tool that facilitates remote team building while boosting productivity, morale and engagement—and also saves HR leaders time and energy.
Try Coach for free with a 30-day trial and let us help you keep your team engaged! ⚡