Keeping employees engaged is always challenging, even when working in the same building. Add in the challenge of a hybrid workplace, where employees could be working from anywhere, and engagement becomes difficult. 87% of employees want the ability to work remotely at least half the time. Organizations will have to find new ways to engage with their employees no matter where they are. Here are three critical things for employers to consider.
Prioritize health and wellness
When you see your employees every day, it can be easier to see how they work and feel throughout the day or week. When employees go remote, it becomes more of a challenge to know who has a bad day or never takes a break. A hybrid workforce needs processes and policies that prioritize health and wellness. Businesses also need to acknowledge that each employee’s hybrid work experience is different, whether the setting, the distractions, or even the access to resources from the internet to internal tools and software. An employee whose health and well-being are suffering is less likely to be engaged and committed to the organization.
There need to be policies and processes that enable each hybrid employee to maximize their work hours and productivity in the healthiest way possible. Organizations can approach that by instituting flexible work hours that acknowledge that the traditional nine-to-five model does not always make the most sense or increase productivity in a hybrid work environment. They can install policies and tools that help prioritize time for breaks and more minor social interactions throughout the workday or workweek.
Streamlining access to policies and benefits is another way businesses can help their employees prioritize and manage their physical and mental health. This could be setting up online access to policies and benefits through an employee portal or creating virtual spaces for employees to get together to discuss common challenges. Employco provides assistance with finding the right combination of benefits and creating supportive wellness policies for your employees, with easy access to that information.
Foster Connection
Employees want to be seen and cared about as people, not just employees. Engagement and commitment to the company increase when you foster more personal connections with them. Managers and teams who take the time to meet one-on-one regularly or communicate with each employee on a more individual, personal level about how policies, benefits, and projects affect them see an increase in engagement and a more robust overall working relationship between employees.
Other ways to foster connection internally can be prioritizing time for virtual parties or casual hangouts. This enables employees to meet up in a more relaxed social environment to play games, learn about each other through informal polls, share personal stories, or even chat over virtual coffees. Providing employees with tools that allow them to communicate with their peers and manager quickly opens the door to fostering a stronger, more engaged work community. Working with a company like Employco can help you design and implement HR programs that boost employee morale and build connections, helping you create a great place to work and develop a cohesive team.
Maintain Consistent, Open Communication
Consistent and clear communications are vital for healthy organizations. When your workforce is not all working in the same place, transparency becomes essential. A hybrid work environment can feel more challenging when working on collaborative projects because it can be difficult to know who is in the office. Utilizing tools that enable online group chats and communication or foster collaboration can break down the communication walls.
Ensuring that everyone has access to the same information simultaneously is another challenge of a hybrid workforce. Businesses offering hybrid work environments need to be more conscious of communicating clearly and consistently about projects, policies, and processes. Putting things like employee portals in place that make it easy for employees to access support, view policies and procedures, or collaborate and update the team on projects can help ensure everyone has access to the same information. The HR experts at Employco will design and set up a network of tools and policies, like employee portals, so your employees know what’s going on and always have access to the latest information.
Are you looking for additional strategies to keep your hybrid workforce engaged? Employco can help you find the right solutions to support your employees, build connections, and drive productivity. Reach out today for more resources.