According to a post on www.benefitnews.com, one in four employees is leaving their job this year. in February 2020 Buffer surveyed remote workers worldwide and found 20% called loneliness their greatest challenge while another 20% named lack of collaboration and communication. In 2021 not being able to unplug was the top challenge followed by the previous two.
Workplace coach Lynne Curry offers four options to combat these challenges. After listing them (full post at https://www.workplacecoachblog.com/2021/03/combatting-employee-isolation-with-virtual-team-building/) I'd like to describe my own experience.
Lynne's options:
- 'Senior management gauntlet" - a video conference starting with a senior manager briefing, followed by employee breakout to submit questions annomously for live answers.
- A "fun" activity, such as a murder mystery with managers playing the parts and employee participation in solving the "crime".
- For organizations with round the clock shifts, a personal user manual for each individual employee to identify their goals, working hours and preferred method of communication.
- Reality based conversation with employees divided into working groups with key managers. There must be a transcript for employees who could not attend, and response from management.
Finally, the Beacon experience: we are currently in a hybrid working model. We're small enough that most employees know each other, with a caring culture so we can share what's going on in our personal lives. We can use multiple channels of communication - in person, phone, email - and keep in touch by social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
In short, use whatever works to keep your employees connected to get through this period.