Never in our lifetime have we experienced a situation like the one we find ourselves in today. The huge uncertainty, the concern for the health of our loved ones and the financial instability we now face, continues to cause great stress and worry to individuals across the globe.

However many businesses are still operating, providing the goods and services to people who need them during this epidemic. If you’re running a business either locally here in Devon, or anywhere in the world and if you’re worried about the well being of your employees and wondering what you can do to keep their mindsets positive and their motivation levels up, here’s our tips for boosting team morale.

Lead from the front

Right now, what employees need through all of this uncertainty and worry is direction and communication. Employees look to their managers for guidance and support, especially when emotions are running high. Managers need to stay calm, listen and support employees through this time and engage and involve them in discussions as much as possible. Don’t shy away from taking control or over communicating, in a time like this, people need information and need reassurance.

Demonstrate flexibility

During this period, accept that policies may need to be relaxed and less rigid. With employers either needing to self isolate due to vulnerabilities or parents needing to mix work with child care now that schools have closed, show your empathy to the new situations your employees find themselves in. As many employees are now forced to remote work from home, employers should also demonstrate a level of trust that they’re doing their jobs outside of the office.

Keep a sense of humour

You’ve heard the phrase, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry, well let’s choose the laugh option. This new way of life and the new work environment that employees are now navigating through might be overwhelming and stressful, especially as families are forced to stay in close proximity with each other for weeks, potentially months. So for the health and well being of your employees it’s vital we release stress and lighten the mood wherever we can. This might be through online work pub quizzes, fancy dress video call competitions, or sharing a silly meme or joke on Teams.

Supporting your staff through this crisis will not only keep them engaged and motivated now, but in months to come, when we’re through the other side, employees will look back at this time and show gratitude for your support by sticking by your side, improving staff retention levels in the long run.

We’re in this together.

If you’re looking for any specific IT support on setting up remote workers or implementing collaboration and communication tools, or other IT issues you might be having, give us a call on 01392 207 194 or email us.