5 ways to ensure your workers are happy when working from home

Due to current global events, the world of work is highly unpredictable, and this can be extremely worrisome for many employees – especially those who are sent home to work. Focusing on mental health and wellbeing is critical as we look to build resilience as a nation.

Here are five ways to ensure your employees stay happy and engaged when they’re working from home:

Communicate

Most of us have the tools required to keep in touch with our teams when they’re working remotely, but communicating effectively can still be a challenge. We’re sociable beings and many people thrive on human contact, but if people who aren’t used to working away from the office are suddenly required to do their jobs remotely, they can quickly start to feel isolated and out of the loop. Naturally, their attitude and mindset towards work will deteriorate.

That’s why clear and authentic communications – delivered regularly – are essential, although this is often easier said than done. The key to success is having a robust communication plan in place. You must consider what information you will release, through which media, and at what time.

By adopting an agile approach to communication, you could hold daily morning meetings, albeit remotely, for 15 mins before work. This will give each team member an opportunity to discuss what they’re working on that day and share details of their personal circumstances. It’s also a great way to provide teams with organisation-wide updates.

Remember, you have a wealth of communication tools at your disposal. You can communicate via formal or informal channels, use videos, voice or email. You could also swap things around to make your communications more relevant and interesting.

Challenge

Rewarding work is a key motivator for employees, which will help them to stay engaged. To keep your staff happy, you’ll need to make sure their work is challenging enough to make their time working from home more rewarding. Consider, for instance, challenging your team to find solutions to communal problems, rather than giving yourself the headache of solving every issue yourself. You could start with a focus group, then delegate tasks to the relevant people.

Recognise

Recognition doesn’t always mean providing financial rewards. There are other ways to recognise key performers and ensure contentment or happiness. I remember being given a significant project which would have taken me away from home for several weeks. To recognise my commitment to the task, and my personal circumstances, my employer at the time allowed me to take additional time off to spend with my loved ones before, during and after the project. This kind of recognition will have a hugely positive impact on your employees.

Wellbeing

Mental wellbeing should be high on your agenda for home workers. While everyone across the world understands that these are difficult times, things will more than likely become a great deal more challenging in the coming months.

But most humans don’t thrive in isolation for extended periods. They enjoy connecting with one another and having the freedom to roam and go wherever they choose, whenever they want. So, working from home for months on end could have a negative impact on their wellbeing.

In addition, your employees could be worrying about their income and their ability to purchase items such as food and hygiene products. Monitoring your workforce and openly discussing their mental wellbeing, while taking advice from experts and sharing those insights with individual employees, will go a long way to reducing anxieties and stress caused by the current crisis.

Many wellbeing practitioners are creating videos and programmes specifically designed to support employees working remotely. From mindfulness sessions for children to lunchtime stretches and so forth, these are all tools that could help your staff to have a better experience while working away from the office.

Community

Finally, it’s important to acknowledge that your employees have families and they’re all part of an extended community outside work. Today’s forward-thinking HR departments are discussing and formulating plans to support their employees should a family member become affected. These plans must consider things like how employees will be remunerated if they need to take time off to look after a loved one.

Ultimately, it’s all about supporting your workforce while they work from home to avoid any issues with their health and wellbeing. Altruistic ventures will make a huge difference to your employees’ and their families’ lives, especially during this ongoing crisis.

Article by Julie Provino, international HR expert and award-winning CEO and founder of HR consultancy VeryHR

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