11 Examples of How Tech Companies Kept Their Employees Motivated During Lockdown
Working from home feels like a big perk. But over time, it can lead to burnout and make employees feel like they are living at work.
In pre-pandemic times, working from home has shown to increase productivity. But in the time of the pandemic, the scenario is a bit different. A study published by Stanford notes that four factors affect work from home productivity during this time of the pandemic: children, space, privacy, and choice.
A recent survey by Microsoft and Survey Monkey found that 25% of employees saw their productivity dip while 20% say their productivity has gone up.
Some tech companies managed to keep motivation and engagement levels high. This post takes a quick look at the examples these companies set: how to win during lockdown.
Mandatory timeoff
Googled declared May 22 a company holiday to fight work from home burnout. Soon after, many companies across the world followed the example set by the tech giant, encouraging employees to take a paid time off.
Love Wherever You Work
Twitter is one of the first companies to adopt a work from home model. Their support for employees is embodied in their hashtag campaign, #lovewhereveryouwork. The company has provided help to employees such as reimbursement for the costs of setting up a home office and for additional day care costs.
Create Accessible Guidelines
Guidelines are particularly important at a time when in-person interaction is not readily available. However, guidelines can be less than encouraging to read. Technology leader Salesforce has created a way to make company guidelines more accessible. The company integrated a creative slide deck and short video pieces in their guidelines. What it accomplished is create a knowledge base that is more fun to consume.
Limit Video Meetings to 30 minutes
Video calls are exhausting. Having to deal with an unnatural form of communication leads to mental exhaustion.
At times, it might be better to try other communication channels such as emails and chat. If not at all avoidable, limit the length of each video call and provide breaks between meetings.
Proactively Address Burnouts
A study by LinkedIn, across 2.5 million data points, suggested that burnout is the number one concern among employees during the pandemic.
Some telling signs of burnout are:
- decreased quality of work
- increased stress levels
- hostility or irritability
- lack of sleep
To ward burnout off, some companies have experimented with a four-day work week. Others have taken on dispersing communication into various channels such as video calls, emails, and Slack channels. But among various creative ways of addressing burnouts, proactively reaching out to employees who have tell-tale signs of burnout might be the best way to take care of employee mental health.
Use Different Delivery Channels
At the early part of the pandemic, renowned communications author and entrepreneur Nancy Duarte sent regular emails to guide employees on how to working from home. The communications focused on practical tips and encouragement. On a week that she had to deliver difficult news, she recorded a video message over Zoom to make her message more personal and empathetic.
Versatile communication breaks monotony. More importantly, it equips you with a toolset that you can draw from, which is particularly useful in these constantly changing and testing times.
Encourage Frequent Breaks
Frequent breaks, plenty of natural light, and lots of fresh air shorten the time that employees need to re-energize.
As employees are forced to stay at home, things like paying the bills and entertainment are done on the computer screen as well. Employees can shutdown and recover faster when they are explicitly encouraged to take a break from their work throughout the day.
Present Small Gestures of Appreciation
Words of appreciation can go a long way -- especially at a time when employees feel detached in their work environment. But what can go longer than words are gestures.
Digital gifts and small presents like beverages can drive employee engagement. It shows that the management cares about employee well-being. In turn, this show of care can make employees more enthusiastic about the work that they do.
Forecast Talents
Technology drives change. This is even more true at a time when technology is the platform upon which all work is done. Whether technlogy does good or presents setbacks comes from how adaptible an organization is. One of the tools that organizations can utilize to ensure that technology always works for the better is talent forecasting.
Talent forecasting is anticipating what technology may replace work currently done by humans. Before new technology is set in place, talent forecasting can help employees train months in advance before new tech rols in. This creates the feeling that employees are staying ahead of instead of being replaced by technology.
Tap Into Thought Leaders
Indian company Infosys surveyed employees on who they saw were leaders in particular skills or technologies. This put Infosys in a position to identify key influencers and work with those key influencers to drive employee development. Key influencers are in a unique position to drive motivation as they are seen by peers as source of inspiration -- a status the goes beyond company hierarchy.
Mix up Tasks
Employees are more motivated when taking on new tasks and learning new skills. Tap into employees' desire to be creative to bring out their potential and make them feel more engaged in the work they do.
As companies continue to ride the roller coaster of the uncertainties of the pandemic, managers and company leaders are forced to taking a new role: that of being leaders in mental and emotional health for their teams.
The end may not be in sight. But despite being dispersed, employees and leaders can move forward together each day.
