6 Ways To Boost Employee Morale And Motivation

The rest of the world was put to a halt when the pandemic happened. Schools have been temporarily closed, the malls had curfews, social gatherings were prohibited, and many businesses had to transition to remote work set-up. For remote workers, their new work-at-home arrangement may have worked in their favour as it keeps them safe from the virus and allows them to work closer to their families. However, one problem many of them face is how to keep their morale high and remain motivated at work despite the challenges they have to deal with every day.  

Supplementary reading: Morale Is Never A Team Issue

As the new normal continues to extend while showing no signs of being over, many workers feel anxious and doubtful about the ongoing situation. With the new working set-up and mandated healthcare protocols, many employees were forced to adjust from their usual routines. Even the most seasoned remote workers experience low morale doubting if everything will eventually return to normal.  

Thankfully, there are some things you can do to promote positivity and motivate your remotely working employees. Here are six ways to elevate employee morale and motivation amid the pandemic.   

1. Celebrate Every Accomplishment

It’s no secret that the pandemic has brought challenges to many businesses worldwide. Some of you may have suffered substantial drop in sales and revenue, while others are trying to keep afloat to keep the operation going and hopefully get back on their feet when the pandemic is over. During this difficult time, one of the best things you can do with your employees is to celebrate every big or small accomplishment that you collectively achieved.  

Read more: How Leaders Can Move Hearts And Minds Through Recognition

For example, if your sales this month have increased compared to last month’s, share it with the team and thank them for their undying effort. If your business received positive reviews from your customers, inform your employees about it to celebrate virtually. You can also share the individual wins of every employee, such as getting promoted, hitting their target, or their work’ anniversary. Then, you can give away reward vouchers as your way of acknowledging their performance.

Doing these things will elevate their morale and promote a sense of connectivity and belongingness despite the challenging times. Overall, celebrating accomplishments will show your employees that you both care about their personal and professional growth.

2. Enhance Their Access To Resources

You may not notice it, but some of your employees are probably having an unpleasant experience with the new remote work set-up due to various reasons. Remember that not all employees are experiencing the same situations. Some may have incomplete office tools, a shortfall in new online software and apps, or no proper home office. As a result, some of them feel distressed, distracted, and overwhelmed to do their jobs in the new set-up.

Thus, you need to pay attention to your employees’ new sets of needs and rethink the resources you’re currently providing them. If possible, you can provide a premium video calling software for the entire company to use or let them temporarily use the office computers which are left unused in your office buildings.

You also need to consider your employees’ need for wellness resources. As mentioned, their stress and anxiety have sky-rocketed due to the pandemic and the changes that came with it. So, you can offer them wellness support such as sending out self-care packages, including a mental health time in their daily schedule, or hosting virtual exercise sessions every week. These will help reduce their stress and show them that you genuinely care about their wellness other than their work output.

3. Boost Their Work Flexibility

Before the pandemic, your employees may have no problem separating their work and personal life. Before, they can leave their tasks in their office and focus on their personal life when they get home. However, with the new remote work set-up, some of them may have a challenging time sustaining their 9-5 shifts as in between those hours, they also need to look after their children and manage their house.

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One way to help them handle this is to provide flexibility on their work hours. If some are more comfortable working in the evening where everyone at home is asleep, and there are no distractions, let them. If some employees aren’t as responsive to your calls or emails, consider their situation before reprimanding them. After all, we’re all stuck in this very unusual time, the pandemic. Implementing flexible work policies will keep them motivated, help them feel understood, and eventually boost their morale.

Read more:

• 4 Rules to Provide Flexibility Without Losing Accountability
• Flexible Workplace: Co-working Spaces Enhance Performance

4. Provide Healthcare Support

Many businesses had to switch to a remote work set-up to implement social distancing and keep their employees safe from travelling to work and possibly contracting the virus. But aside from this change, it might also be a good idea to recheck the existing healthcare programs you’ve provided for your employees and see if you can add more healthcare support. Especially during the pandemic, added healthcare support is vital to keep the mental fortitude of your employees high.

Suppose your employees are constantly thinking about illnesses, whether physically or mentally, it can take a toll on their work performance and productivity. Perhaps you can provide them with online counselling services for their mental health or offer to schedule virtual appointments to doctors or therapists when they’re having problems with their health. You can gain more insight into their needs by asking questions or conducting surveys regarding their health concerns.

5. Practice Proper And Honest Communication

Some business owners may choose to hide news related to the pandemic and the declining business performance to avoid their employees from panicking and feeling more doubtful during this unprecedented crisis. Unfortunately, the more you hide facts from your employees, the more they think negatively for their health and job security.

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Thus, as much as possible, practice proper and honest communication with your team members. You can host bi-weekly or monthly virtual meetings about your business performance concerns and discuss your plans and solutions to the situation. This meeting will also allow your employees to open up their concerns and clarify them. Keep your employees in the loop as this will reduce their feelings of worry and prevent false rumours from spreading among the others.

6. Host Virtual Bondings

Just because you’re all working remotely doesn’t mean you can’t bond together as a company anymore. You can think of strategies to keep your employees engaged and connected by hosting virtual bonding and happy hours. For instance, you can set every Friday of the week for fancy dressing wherein everyone should wear something fancy while having virtual social time. 

You can also keep your employees physically active by hosting virtual exercises and virtual yoga classes. Your employees may want to have a virtual lunch room every noon break as they probably miss having lunch with their co-workers. On Saturdays, when it’s the last working day, you can host a movie watch party or virtual trivia quizzes held by different departments every week. These activities will keep your employees engaged, connected, and boost their camaraderie despite being physically apart.

Read more: Virtual Reality: Restoring Human Connection In Virtual Teams

Conclusion

Boosting your employees’ morale and motivation may be tough during the pandemic, but it’s definitely possible and doable. Most of the time, it’s all about the genuine things you do, such as offering them healthcare support, maintaining strong and honest communication, and improving flexibility to make them feel that you care and value them. So, take note of these tips, and together, you can work on maintaining a healthy work culture within your company during this pandemic. 

Author Bio: Lidia Stickley is a business management specialist and has been in the industry for over 17 years. She inspires employees and business leaders about proper business management through her webinars and virtual training. She attends yoga classes and enjoys fishing with her family during her free time.

Check out the media below featuring our very own CEO, Roshan Thiran, discussing how you can inspire your employees, even in remote working:

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