As we near the second anniversary of the start of the first UK lockdown, since when many office-based workers will have worked from home almost exclusively, employers will be wondering what new activities they can put in place to embrace employee wellbeing and keep their team engaged with each other and with the business.
Zoom quizzes, social lunches, virtual coffees, on-line yoga, virtual escape rooms, home schooling tutors – employers have been truly creative in using technology to keep people connected and employees have valued these support mechanisms which have helped mitigate the shock and isolation of continuously working from home.
How can employers assess wellness and performance when employees mix home and office-based working?
It could be some months yet before there is a significant return to office-based working and many organisations are beginning to anticipate a long-term hybrid arrangement with employees hoping to mix home and office-based working on a permanent basis. With this new normal, employers of all sizes will need to put in place a more strategic and sustainable approach to understanding and managing the engagement of a more peripatetic workforce than the heroic, wellness centred efforts that have been the focus to date.
With less direct supervision, fewer informal touchpoints and without the visual clues that are a natural part of office-based working, how will an employer know that the team is staying on top of what they need to do to deliver, identify employee issues and equip their leaders to lead in this new world of remote working? In short, how will an employer have the confidence that their workplace culture will survive large scale working from home?
Employee wellbeing engagement survey can act as a barometer to positively drive better employee engagement
Given the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas anonymously, employees will generally be happy to give honest and constructive feedback on what is and isn’t working for them and what they would like to see change. A well-constructed survey, which doesn’t need to be lengthy or complex to administer, will generate valuable and focussed insight that will keep the employer in control of the employee experience, and through that of the performance of the organisation. Just knowing that you’re interested enough to ask and listen can give employees an initial boost. Asking the right questions, designed and validated by experienced professionals, gives both the employer and employee confidence in the integrity of the process. Used frequently, a wellbeing engagement survey can act as a barometer to uncover hidden pressure points, identify and measure the impact of change interventions and positively drive better employee engagement.
How can Isosceles help?
If you would like to discuss how Isosceles could quickly set up and run an employee engagement assessment for your organisation, contact us at hr@ifteam.co.uk
Or you could always schedule another Zoom call and hope for the best!
Related Article | Practical ways to support employees through COVID
Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn
