How to motivate employees at work after lockdown
The question on everyone’s lips just a month ago was ‘how do I motivate my employees during lockdown’. Now the big topic is managing mind shifts, expectations and worries when employees return back to work after lockdown. Trying to motivate employees after months of being out of a work environment can be challenging and frustrating. It can seem like you’ve taken a step back in time and are having to go over basic procedures which your employees usually know like the back of their hand. But the good news is, you’re not alone. If you motivate your employees with the right help and guidance, post lockdown struggles will become a whole lot easier.
The feelings you can expect your employees to be feeling post lockdown
Firstly, it’s crucial to be mindful of the different range of emotions your employees are going to be feeling when they return back to work. This can help you be more empathetic and understanding, ensuring you know exactly what’s going to motivate them. It will make your employees feel fully supported and understood by you upon their return. The most common feelings will be;
Loss of freedom - Employees will have grown overly fond of their lockdown routine and working to their own time and rules. Being thrown back into work and under the rules of their boss can be quite a shock to the system.
Conflicted and confused - Your employees may feel confused about their feelings towards going back to work. This can be because of a range of things including; using public transport to get to work, whether they want to socialise again, what routine they preferred, why their friends or families haven’t all returned back to work.
Stressed - Your employees may feel underprepared to return back to work after lockdown or perhaps they feel fearful about the unknown.
Excited - A lot of employees will be excited to get back to work and into a normal routine having spent months at home during lockdown.
Unsupported - Your employees may feel like the necessary procedures haven’t been put in place for them to return back to work. Perhaps they don’t want their child returning to nursery yet and you haven’t given them enough time to sort their childcare.
Demotivated - Many people will have lost the drive which they once had before lockdown. This can be because of a lack of routine, or perhaps they are thinking about whether there will be a second peak and they will be back to square one again.
Worried about relationships - Some employees may feel nervous about seeing co-workers who they haven’t seen for months.
Angry - Some employees will feel angry because you aren’t following the new guidelines how they would expect you to.
Untrusting - The lockdown period was an uncertain time for everyone. If you weren’t able to give much notice or lacked thorough communication for your furloughed or zero hours contract staff then there will have been a breakdown in trust.
Introduce workplace wellness programmes to motivate employees
Workplace wellness programmes were created to ensure that your employees are happy and healthy inside and outside of work. They were designed to encourage healthy habits among your employees to positively impact their lives. The idea is that if you have happy, healthy and positive employees then they will perform better and give your customers the service that they want. They also decrease sick days and improve overall business profits. So really, they are a win win for everyone and are an especially important thing to consider to motivate employees after lockdown. But there are a lot of factors to consider when choosing the best workplace wellness programme for your team after lockdown.
Things to be mindful of when selecting a workplace wellness programme after lockdown
Results - Think about what results you want to achieve by implementing the platform. In this case you want to motivate and engage employees after lockdown. You’ll want to ask your vendor how they have managed to engage and motivate employees with the app and give you results and examples of when they have done this.
Long-term strategy - You’ll want to consider how the platform can tie into your long-term goals so that it can serve you for years to come, not just after lockdown. For example, the mini goal would be to motivate employees six months after lockdown. However, the bigger goal may be to attract and retain top talent for your business.
Usability - How easy is the platform to use? If it’s not user friendly then your employees won’t use it. What does it look like? How does it feel? Is it sleek and quick or clunky and slow?
Reporting - You’ll want to ask your vendor the exact reporting features as these are going to help you prove what impact the app is having on your business. For example, does it show what features employees use the most? What time employees are most likely to use the app? How long do they stay on the platform for? Make sure they give you a detailed explanation of all the reporting features before you commit.
Below are some of the top workplace wellness platforms to consider for your employees after lockdown
Wrkit work with clients such as the NHS and Vodafone. Their platform focuses on life, mind, work, food, activity and sleep proving a holistic approach to employee workplace wellbeing.
Virgin Pulse uses mobile-first technology to ensure that wellbeing is deeply ingrained into your culture. They have a big focus on employee data and analyse it from various different sources.
Breeze is an incredibly user friendly wellbeing platform which is provided by Health Shield. The app empowers your employees to take care of themselves.
Welbot gives your employees daily physical and mental health exercises which are delivered through desktop pop up notifications.
Evermind is a platform which focuses on giving your team the skills they need to cope and manage with stress, perfect for post-lockdown worries.
Spectrum.life work with clients such as Accenture and Intel. They offer assistance programmes, onsite wellbeing services and workplace wellbeing strategies.
Wellspace takes a holistic approach to employee wellbeing and are focused heavily not just on employee health but also on return on investment.
Oplift this app focuses on rewarding your staff for their hard work, making their learning fun and giving them the tools they need to work effectively and easily.
Watch your language around employees after lockdown
People are feeling extra sensitive at the moment which makes them hyper-aware of any phrases which you use. Certain terms could trigger negative emotions in your employees after lockdown so it’s essential that you find out what terms hold negative connotations for them. You can send out a survey asking employees to detail these for you. You can do this by creating open ended questions or simply having a checklist of phrases and asking employees to tick the ones which they would prefer to be avoided.
Common phrases currently used which could make your staff feel demotivated:
The new normal
This phrase is being used everywhere by everyone. But it can actually cause upset and distress to your employees. After lockdown when they return to work they will have to wear a facemask when serving customers and they won’t be allowed in the staff room with all their colleagues. It can be a very lonely and isolating experience. Telling staff this is the ‘new normal’ implies that this is now life so they just have to get on with it. It doesn’t provide any glimmer of hope that things will return to normality and instead implies that these new rules are here to stay forever which is very discerning.
Unprecedented
Media and news outlets never seem to tire of using this word. You can’t turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper without hearing or seeing it. Yes, it’s true that this situation is completely new and has never been seen before. However, this word doesn’t instill much trust or confidence so workplaces should avoid using it. To motivate employees you need to be confident and provide clear direction. Make employees think you know where you are going and what you are doing even if you don’t. Being bold and letting employees know they can count on you after lockdown is crucial for driving engagement and motivation.
Trying times
Again, this word hold connotations of helplessness, sadness and worry. You will not motivate employees after lockdown by using this vague and negative phrase. We all know that this period in time is difficult for everyone but employees do not need to keep being reminded of this. It’s demotivating and won’t add any value to what you are saying.
Uncertain times
Your employees have had enough of uncertain times. They have returned to work after lockdown and want to see some sort of normality and order. `Stop driving home to them that things are still uncertain. Instead, make them feel positive and upbeat about being back at work.
Offer financial help to your employees after lockdown
YouGov have said that 35% of employees have seen their income reduced since the start of lockdown. This has left a lot of families struggling to make ends meet. When returning to work after lockdown you want to make sure that your employees feel supported in every area of life to keep them feeling motivated and engaged. Financial worries are one of the top factors causing stress and unhappiness which can become a huge distraction at work. A survey by CIPD found that 1 in 5 employees want financial guidance from their employer so it’s important that you make this option available to them.
Debt counselling - To tackle this you could provide debt counselling for your employees, these can be offered by employee assistance programmes.
Money management - You can provide money management advice and training to your employees. There will be many tailored programmes around which are specifically focused on how your employees can financially get back on their feet after lockdown.
Salary schemes - Have salary sacrifice schemes. In 2017 the UK changed the laws around what could be offered in these schemes. This meant that company cars, gym memberships and mobile phones could not be offered. But companies can still offer employee pensions and ultra low emission vehicles in these tax-friendly schemes.
Workplace saving plans - Offer your employees something like a corporate ISA which encourages employees to save. These enable employees to save money which is interest free of UK income tax. It takes the complications out of savings, employees can simply tick a box and the money will be put aside for them when they get paid.
Inject some personality and fun with videos
Returning to work after lockdown can feel like you’re back on the hamster wheel except feeling more lonely and with more rules and restrictions in place. To combat these feelings of loneliness and despair it’s crucial that your management keep good communication levels with staff. A great way of doing this is by providing regular update videos or just inspiring videos which make your employees feel at ease. In these videos managers should be confident and light-hearted. Humour is an excellent way to lift the spirits of your staff and make them feel and excited about their return back to work.
Our tips for the most motivating back to work videos
Keep it short, your video should be no longer than 3 minutes. Any longer than this and your employees will switch off.
Film it in a light and airy place where there is a lot of life and action going on behind you. This will combat thoughts of loneliness and isolation contributing to more motivated employees.
Be compassionate, get the message across that you understand exactly how your employees are feeling and that you are all in it together. Use phrases and terms which convey this such as ‘we recognise how you must be feeling’ ‘it’s not uncommon to feel this way’ ‘we have put X measures in place to help prevent you from feeling this way.’
Use humour and try to make appropriate jokes where possible to lighten the mood.
Be confident and positive. This is the most important, you need your employees to feel like they can look to you for security and guidance. It is your job to make them feel at ease when returning to work after lockdown.
The video below is a nice example of how TUI made their employees and customers feel at ease about returning to normal operations after lockdown. It’s not specifically for employees or from management but it demonstrates how to lift the mood for employees and encourage positivity about returning to work.
Returning to work after lockdown is going to be a strange and unusual time for everyone. Getting back into a routine and feeling safe, secure and supported is crucial for all employees. We hope that with our guidance your employees will be fully motivated to perform at their best when they return back to work.
Want to learn the real frustrations your employees have? Download our free guide:
Looking to motivate and communicate with your employees effectively after lockdown?
Join the likes of Next and Virgin Media who have chosen to use our employee engagement, communication and compliance platform. They use it to provide an exceptional employee experience which always gives them a good return on investment.
