Employee Engagement Activities Can Now Be Done Virtually In Lockdown

The pandemic has brought unusual changes in various industry sectors. Social distancing is been strictly followed by everyone which leads all of us to work from home. Working from home has many advantages as well as disadvantages.

The organization has flexible work hours for their employee, while few have to work straight for 12 hours a day which is pretty hectic and stressful because it becomes difficult for everyone to manage household chores and office work at the same time. Many others feel that working from home increases their productivity while for few it declines their productivity.

So, to maintain the productivity of each employee a company can do some sort of online activity which helps them and their employees to be more relaxed and chill than the daily work routine.

In the past few months, many applications have proved to be helpful in making communication faster among colleagues. Also, video conferencing has become the new normal for us. For a few employees working from home would be very casual and for a few others, it might be their first time. This type of working arrangement may seem interesting at the beginning but then later it loses its appeal thus resulting in employee disengagement.

Thus, conducting online activities is important so that the employees don't get bored and lose their motivation for working. Before the pandemic, it was easy for the organization to conduct activities for employees, but after the pandemic, it is kind of a task for them because before this they all were enjoying the activities together but now they have to do it virtually.

Now let's have a look at how employee engagement activities can be done virtually:

Two-way communication-

Two-way communication is very essential as it enables the employee to give some sort of feedback to improve a situation. This type of communication helps an employee to share their thoughts, ideas, opinions regardless of the corporate hierarchy and this improves the relationship across the structure.

During this point of time, the organization should realize that an employee may feel disassociated if they are not kept in the loop in the progress of their company. This two-way communication can help employees feel that he is completely associated with the company.

Covid-19 is growing rapidly and many employees are feeling more anxious, so the company can check up on them once a week by having a casual meeting so that they don't feel isolated. It may sound cliché but asking your employees how are they doing or how are they holding up during this pandemic shows that you care for their well-being. Making an employee feel that he is important to the company leaves a good impact and makes them feel that they are a part of their corporate family. So an employer needs to hear out what an employee is going through during this point in time.

Appreciate good work-

When an employee is appreciated for the work done by them, they feel more motivated thus this increases the rise in their productivity, giving them the satisfaction of what they are doing is right and helps them to improve their work.

Appreciating can be done by giving some reward points to them which can be redeemed whenever they want ( reward points in way of a Sodexo coupon, or an Amazon voucher).

Another way of appreciating is that by giving an employee a surprise day off as they worked hard and it's time for them to breathe the fresh air. If a company earns a big-time profit because of an employee then during this pandemic they can send the materials needed for making a cake thus taking a desert break and sending a card along which will spread a smile on their face thus making their day.

"Appreciation can make a day- even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary."- Margaret Cousins

Work/Life Balance is important-

Maintaining a work/life balance is not only important for health but also important for employee's productivity and at the end performance rises. It is said that if work/life balance is maintained it reduces stress.

Encouraging efficient work is important but giving more workload is not correct. Even when an employee is working from home it is still important to maintain work/life balance because they have much other work to do right from looking after their children and their studies online and many more thus it gets difficult to manage all things at the same time.

Staying at home and giving back to back work to the employee thus not giving much personal space, which leads to a lot of stress and unnecessary burnouts. The workload is going to increase but there is a way to handle this work pressure.

A daily task can be given to an employee and according to his flexibility they can complete the task in their own way thus, they will not be burden by sitting for long hours. Prior information on the task can be more beneficial because they can plan their work and help them keep calmer while working.

"The challenge of work-life balance is without question one of the most significant struggles faced by modern man."- Stephen Covey 

Informal Interactions-

This is the time where people can have Informal interactions with their employees thus diverting their minds off their regular work. Activities can be conducted online through video conferencing.

Staying healthy together is important so a trainer can be hired where he can conduct an activity once a week with everybody. This way it shows that employers care for their employees and are really putting efforts to value their mental and physical health.

Let's recall the old games like Pictionary, Bingo, Tic -Tac -Toe, Ludo, and many more and family members can also participate in these kinds of games. Thus spreading laughter and joy while playing together.

Many have started cooking various cuisine so one can share their favorite recipes on the group thus connecting colleagues over the kitchen and inspiring others to take a meal break. 

"Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is a success." - Henry Ford 

Covid-19 has brought many changes in and around us so let us all accept it and keep trying to find new ways which will be helpful for all of us to be more cheerful, to be more kind, to be more loving and more helpful. Let's climb the ladder of success virtually and celebrate it by staying and working from home.

Stay Home! Stay Safe!