How to re-engage your employees post-COVID

Heading back to the office

Slowly but surely we are heading back into the office. The world is reopening and we’re ready to embrace it with open arms. After months of lockdown, you might assume that employees are keen to get back to work — unfortunately, that is not the case. In this article you will learn how to re-engage your employees post-COVID to help you get your business up and running again.

Employee engagement is key to rebuilding a business; however, research shows that on average only around 29% of employees in a company are actively engaged. They are loyal, committed, more productive, and easier to retain, which is why they are vital to business regrowth. Just over half of your team are likely not engaged — they can be productive but are not psychologically connected to the company, and they are the ones who miss workdays and are more likely to leave. A fifth of your employees are actively disengaged: physically present but unhappy and psychologically absent, and they share their unhappiness with others, which can influence the rest.

As a business owner, employee engagement might not be at the forefront of your mind given the current situation — with businesses starting back up you are probably more concerned with customer relations and closing deals. But if you don’t actively work toward re-engaging your employees, that might not be possible. After almost five months working from home, employees have realised benefits such as saving time and money by not commuting, and they are asking for flexible working patterns, the ability to work remotely, and an openness to new working styles. This shift in attitudes will have a ripple effect when offices reopen: although individuals have missed the social aspect of the office, they have made it clear that they want a change.

How do you re-engage employees?

Trying to re-engage your employees, and keep them engaged, was hard before the global pandemic. Now, with a looming recession, job losses, months of working from home, and a virus still in circulation, it is even harder. Nevertheless, the traditional methods that employers have used for years are still effective and shouldn’t be ignored. Reopening your office takes some getting used to after lockdown, and keeping on top of the basic pillars of engagement — recognition, growth, and fun — goes a long way toward keeping employees happy and motivated.

Re-engage and recognise

Employees are more engaged when they feel their contribution has been recognised. Although remuneration, benefits, and rewards are common ways to show employees you value their input, you might not be financially stable enough to give those kinds of rewards post-COVID. Fortunately, over 80% of employees value recognition above any rewards or gifts — as long as employees feel you appreciate the work they are doing, they will be more actively engaged.

The type of recognition matters too. Over two-thirds of people believe recognition as an individual is more motivating than recognition as a team; almost 90% find praise from their managers very or extremely motivating, and three-quarters say the same about praise from peers. Recognizing and praising employees for their contributions doesn’t cost you any time or money — look at everything that has been achieved while everyone worked from home and be ready to offer individual praise when your doors reopen.

Growth

Employees are more engaged if they feel there is potential to grow and develop their career within your organisation — in fact, the majority of people list opportunities for growth as a more motivating reason to stay than a pay rise. This is why engagement tends to be better in a growing company, as staff understand the correlation between business growth and new job opportunities. The problem is that a post-pandemic recession is likely to halt growth.

Whether you are open with your employees or not, there will be tell-tale signs of whether your business is growing or taking a hit, and if staff feel the business is struggling financially they disengage quickly. Although growth and career progression might not be on the cards right now, job security is increasingly important as we enter a global recession. Where possible, make every member of staff feel their job is safe; if you have made redundancies, others will feel insecure, so continue offering praise and recognition so they feel confident in their role.

Fun

Without a doubt, the easiest and most effective way to keep your team motivated and engaged is to provide a fun working environment — nine out of ten employees list a fun working environment as very or extremely motivating. This doesn’t mean you need to turn your office into a trendy agency or Google HQ overnight. Simply building strong relationships and encouraging out-of-work hobbies can go a long way; most people are just looking for a healthy work environment.

Expecting to re-engage unengaged employees

One of the problems business owners face is the shift in attitudes that has left previously engaged employees feeling unmotivated and disengaged. With all the changes 2020 brought, employees are looking for a sense of normality, and returning to a new, socially-distanced environment after months away takes its toll.

It is understandable when you look at the three pillars of engagement above. For months, each team member worked from home without colleagues around them — that segregation led to a decrease in praise and recognition from management and peers alike. They are also likely to have lost confidence in their job security, with media headlines focusing on the looming recession and job losses. Finally, any element of fun in the work environment has been stripped bare by distancing requirements, plastic screens, and the lingering smell of hand sanitiser, while employees got used to working from home with more free time for family and new hobbies. The measures above will help you overcome these difficulties — letting engagement slip is understandable amid a pandemic, but doing so causes more damage to your business.

How do you motivate a disengaged team?

It is much harder to motivate an individual who has recently become disengaged. We can make assumptions as to why, but you can never be completely sure, so there is no quick fix. Once an individual becomes disengaged it is really hard to get them back on course — they aren’t satisfied with the job, don’t find it exciting, and spend the day clock-watching. Under normal circumstances they would be searching for a new job; in the current situation they may feel trapped by the decreasing job pool, which can lead to further problems as they vocalise their issues and their negative attitude rubs off on others. Cutting staff could lead to further disengagement, and it is far more cost-effective to actively re-engage a current member of staff than to recruit new people.

Career development

You might not be in the best situation to start promoting employees and dishing out pay raises and bonuses — but you can still let your staff know their position is safe. Asking your staff to take part in training exercises that enable them to develop new skills makes them feel appreciated and shows you intend to have them working for you in the future, giving them a sense of job security.

Be open

Share all the company news, good and bad, with your employees. In doing so you tell everyone they are a valuable member of the team, and you help them engage with the business, company goals, and your mission and values. You may also find a handful of hidden talents among your team: disengaged employees pass the day doing the bare minimum, while engaged employees go above and beyond. By being open about the current situation, your team becomes more actively engaged and could even provide solutions to company problems.

Lay out your expectations

Your business goals will have to be adjusted to face the crisis — your product offering, distribution methods, or marketing strategy may have to change. If you are open with your employees, they will already understand their roles may change slightly. Make this transition easier by sitting down with each employee to discuss their new role and set clear expectations, goals, and objectives. In doing so, you reiterate the importance of every member of staff, and they feel more secure with clear targets to work toward.

Re-engage employees post-COVID: a summary

Believe it or not, your employees want to re-engage at work — nobody wants to sit at a desk clock-watching for a third of their life. Engaging your team will not only boost your business but make your office a better place to work. Your employees will find it much easier to stay motivated and engaged if you provide the right atmosphere for them to do so, and you can do this by following the tips above.