Motivating Employees In The Post COVID-19 World
The entire world is grappling with the fear of COVID-19 pandemic that has impacted lives & businesses alike. The pandemic is also a wakeup call for individuals and enterprises to focus on things that matter the most! While this was done to a certain extent, the pandemic has re-shuffled the pack of cards and added some items from low (or medium) priority to high-priority!
Human minds are tuned to act in a particular manner, but the pandemic has resulted in bringing significant work-style and lifestyle changes. The standard way of doing things may no longer work now and the entire world has to embrace the new normal of work, travel, and business. When we go through extreme topsy-turvy situations, it is bound to cause fear and discomfort in us. We are suddenly living life on the edge and our prime focus is currently on the lower bands of Maslow’s theory (i.e. physiological and safety needs).
Someone who is driving the organizational needs to focus on his (or her) well-being and extend the same to others in the organization. In my earlier blog, I focused on the nuances of leadership in the time of COVID-19; here the focus is on keeping employees motivated in the post COVID-19. Their motivation is of prime importance, once they return to their desks in the office as not every task can be done by working from home! Employees have to learn, unlearn, and re-learn new skills and techniques, so that they can still contribute to the goodwill of the organization from the office environment, where they are returning after a long break of 2~3 months. Meeting colleagues and customers will no longer be the same, as social distancing will now be a part of everyone’s DNA☺.
Post COVID-19, the mental well-being of every person in the organization will be even more important, as they have to fight their mental fears to deliver on time, for delighting their customers.
At TekGeminus, we have always emphasized that employee’s psychological, physical, and emotional well-being is critical in delivering 100x customer delight. As offices in India are all set to welcome employees post-lockdown, we at TekGeminus, plan to restart the office operations at least a week later than everything is generally operational within and around the office premises. The pertinent question is ‘Why the delay’? The straight-forward answer is to be extra safe!
The post COVID-19 office environment may no longer be the same and in-depth consultation with the employees has to be done to assess their comfort levels in returning back to the office. This is the time when empathy can play a key role in shaping new normal for the offices. Every leader at TekGeminus adheres to the following principles:
Employees who are away from their homes and staying alone would be under maximum stress once they resume working from office. Along with being empathetic at each level, it is time that managers & leaders check about the well-being of their team members at a personal level (without invading their privacy) for igniting the positive energy within them.
After working from home for more than two months, employees would be accustomed to that work style and adjusting as per the new office norms might take time. It’s a mental battle and leaders need to rise to the occasion for ensuring that employees are feeling positive and charged-up, whether in the office or at home!
At TekGeminus, the initial few days after the resumption of office will be spent on building a positive aura in the workplace.
Our belief is that employees are going to the office for replenishing the positivity! This positivity will help in building a strong & positive immune system.
In these tough times, we will be extra watchful about every employee’s health & peace of mind. It is our endeavor to ensure every employee feels that customer deliveries are happening without any sacrifice of their well-being.
Once employees (and contractors) associated with TekGeminus are back in the office, they should use their lockdown experience (and other memories they cherished whilst working from home) for spreading positivity in the workplace. This will lead to complementing our inner energy that aids in building a stronger immune system.
Upon addition of an artificially injected immunity builder, your inner instinct of staying positive & immune is what will make you feel energized and positive, whether you are in the office or at home.
TekGeminus has always been a people-first company and if our employees feel relaxed and positive after the lockdown, more than half the battle is won as positivity will directly show up on their productivity.
Human Capital has and will always be our core strength and we, at TekGeminus, will go an extra mile to make our employees feel safe & empowered once they work from office post lockdown.
I would like to close this blog on the following note:
Like water holds the capacity to change even with a single drop of color, an organization should be nimble enough to quickly adapt and respond to the demands of the change.
