Our productivity is fueled by inner joy and mental peace. However, in the face of such uncertainty as this pandemic brings or any other personal crisis, how do you move on? During this COVID-19 pandemic, morale and motivation are at an all-time low. As a manager or an employer, you have to be the one to find ways of motivating employees under adverse conditions.
You must be sympathetic, grasp their issues, and try to fix them. This isn’t going to be accomplished with a formal email or a motivational speech. Here are some ways to solve your employees’ concerns and drive them to perform better.
Show empathy and support.
Everyone has different responses and difficulties while facing a crisis—schedule weekly team meetings and one-on-ones to address their issues. Ask them about how they are feeling and how you can support them. For example, how would an employee feel if a manager only cares for their productivity?
You have to go above and beyond to foster a sense of belonging and make them know that you care for their well-being too. Empathy is the simplest yet most effective way of motivating employees under adverse conditions😇.
Communicate with your employees. If they are overwhelmed, you could say, “I understand you are going through a lot. Let’s get together and figure out a way to sort out the task”. A word of understanding can go a long way to make them feel valued and re-energize them to take on responsibilities.
It is also essential to communicate your vision to your employees. Employees should be treated as partners in the company. Please keep them in the loop and update them with any situation or change. This instills a sense of importance in the employee as he understands how significantly his work contributes to achieving that goal.
Recognize and appreciate
The biggest motivation for anyone is appreciation. Someone going through hardship would further lose their will to perform if their work goes unacknowledged. In this pandemic, people are working remotely and do not always have the proper working set-up or atmosphere at home.
Yet, they are pushing themselves to deliver and meet deadlines. It is easy to lose confidence and willpower under such adverse conditions. Therefore, recognition is essential. Recognition gives the required push and motivation to employees👍.
Recognition can mean sending an email to everyone in the department, appreciating an employee’s contribution to a particular project🎉. It could also be in the form of a gift card or some voucher🧧.
Offer flexibility
During this pandemic, many of your employees are managing work💻, looking after their child’s schooling, and at the same time monitoring their household. They could have aged people at home who are at high risk of contracting the virus. They are perpetually worried about the safety of their loved ones.
How can someone go on with their ordinary life with so much on their plate?
What can you do to ease their burden? Actions are more powerful than words. Try to be accommodating and allow them flexible work hours to work around their child’s needs. Let them work from home with staggered shifts and compressed workweeks. Working from home allows for social distancing and offers flexibility.
Think of holistic wellbeing
Do you know the most sensible and logical way of motivating employees under adverse conditions? Provide them with medical insurance and employee assistance programs. It is crucial to prioritize the health and wellbeing of employees. If you are concerned for the health of your employees and not just their productivity, it fosters an environment of care within your organization❤️.
Plum Insurance offers group healthcare insurance. With Plum Insurance, your employees will get multiple health benefits like unlimited doctor consultations, full-body checkups, COVID-19 treatment, and even pre-existing conditions are covered.
In addition, this health insurance also values mental health and offers personal therapists, which is an essential aspect of healthcare during these uncertain times.
Taking breaks can increase productivity multifold times. So, encourage your employees to set healthy boundaries around work and non-work spaces and to maintain clear start and end times of their shifts with proper break times.
Offer a fair and thriving work environment
Your employees will be more prone to deliver objectives if you foster a fair and just work environment at your organization. So, ensure that all the employees are treated and paid ✔️ equally. Review your company policies and make amendments to make them inclusive, and there should be no discrimination on any grounds.
There is no greater motivation than knowing there’s a proper and just system to evaluate our work and reward us accordingly.
To wrap up
You may be impacted by motivating employees in difficult situations. Remember, you’re the captain of the ship as a manager or employer. As a result, keep your cool! Being stressed about a health problem or a health crisis is possible. There are several ways to get motivated.
Just make sure that your employees know you’re there to help and support them. Check on them from time to time, just as you would with a family. Provide gifts, send thank you letters, accommodate their needs, and establish their value.
Kindness in little ways may help people achieve their best, encourage them and inspire them.
Go beyond employee motivation, check out our blog on Top 8 Fun Friday Games.
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