The epidemic has created a total upheaval in all aspects of our lives, separated us from our workstation, colleagues and routines. It has added stress, led to a drop in morale, which has resulted in reduced performance. This requires to be set right immediately to ensure that the employees regain their confidence and belief.
There are a few patterns of leadership that can help employees regain their sense of stability, empowerment, and inclusion.
Show appreciation
Employees appreciate small gestures from leaders in terms of recognising, praising, appreciating the work done. Even a simple thank you in conversations, by email goes a long way in reinforcing the employees' confidence. Visible acts from team leaders like appreciating the efforts at team meetings, sharing the work done by them so that others become aware of the work being done helps in reinforcing their efforts and be valued especially when contacts with coworkers were limited and job insecurity was high.
Provide individualised support.
Leaders should understand the employees' needs, preferences while working from home and provide individualised support to complete their work. Employees have different situations, socioeconomic circumstances and varying degrees of familiarity with technology.
Check-in regularly with how they and their family are coping up showing awareness of their issues and be available for any support. If required have a one-to-one meeting to redistribute work to accommodate different needs. These actions help employees feel less stressed and create a trust that motivated them in work.
Involve employees in decision making
Ask for inputs from employees and act on it. Ask employees to raise issues immediately, include them in discussions about the work, organise open forum meetings to ask questions and share their thoughts. This would make them feel needed, capable, and trusted.
Entrust employees with new responsibilities
This may seem overwhelming to employees when they are already struggling with managing existing work, but employees would feel empowered when tasked with new responsibilities or challenges. It could be sharing the leaders work to balance his workload, lead new initiatives, mentor coworkers, share their experience and help coworkers. This would make them more confident in their abilities and get to know their colleagues better and make them feel important.
Designate time for team bonding
Create specific opportunities for employees to connect and bond with other employees. have virtual coffee breaks, happy hours, time for sharing, help them loosens and relax. This will help relieve stress, and motivate them to perform better in their work. It would help them to feel belonged in a team, be held accountable by peers.
Although the epidemic has forced us into adopting new methods to manage, it has also allowed leaders to evaluate current practices and how to demonstrate supportive behaviour for teams and companies. Some of these may come naturally to some and the best approach is to emphasise those you feel strongly about and take time and practice what is to be learnt. Incorporate new practices. Treat this as an opportunity to expand your comfort zones and improve your ability to lead through a crisis.
5 Strategies to Support Your Employees Through a Crisis
by Wei Zheng HBR 2020/10
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