Covid-19 has made a major impact on the business world, and we have barely begun to understand or experience its effects. Many businesses had to transition constantly over the past 18 months with layoffs, closures, flex scheduling, remote work opportunities, and so on. More employees are working from home than ever before, so employees now face new challenges such as balancing family responsibilities while still contributing meaningfully at work. Additionally, employees have to deal with the stresses that come along with an unstable work environment. As these changes continue in our lives and unfold this year, it will be crucial for companies to maintain trust and confidence within the company culture to stay productive and successfully support employees. Here, Business Insurance Center shares some best practices for maintaining employee trust within your company during these trying times.
COVID-19 Employee Support Best Practices
Creating a company culture of wellness, trust, and respect during difficult times is an integral part of your business’s success. As an employer, you can take a few simple steps that go a long way in maintaining trust, productivity, and engagement in the workplace (even if it’s a remote workplace!).
1.Maintain Open Communication and Transparency
During a time like this, it is imperative to communicate with your employees on a consistent basis and make them feel included in the process of dealing with these new challenges you are facing together. Having a daily check-in with your employees is a key part of communication and success. This could be via phone, FaceTime, Zoom, or in-person. It’s a great idea to hold both one-on-one communications and group meetings to continue to build a sense of trust and community. Covid-19 has been an isolating time for many people, so encouraging camaraderie will go far in terms of employee and company wellness. Engage your team members by asking questions about how you can help or what’s working or not at different levels within your organization. This will enable potential concerns to be voiced before escalating into bigger issues. Be honest, transparent, and direct about important plans or changes within the company.
- Be Consistent
With so many elements of work and life constantly changing, your employees need to know that you are a stable, reliable, and consistent force within the company. This may be challenging during so much instability but your consistent reactions to situations and thinking through each decision builds priceless trust amongst your employees. Knowing what to expect from you provides a sense of security.
- Provide Wellness Benefits
Your employees are likely feeling a lot of stress and unease during this time and a way to counteract this is a focus on mental and physical health. Genuinely caring about the wellness of your employees also naturally develops rapport and trust. You can demonstrate this to your employees by providing ample opportunities for them to practice wellness. Offer gym or yoga studio memberships, include therapy in your benefits package, allow extra breaks for a walk or meditation session, encourage employees to share resources for stress relief and wellness ideas.
- Protect Data with Cyber Insurance
There is no quicker way to lose the trust of both clients and employees than a data breach. Such a breach can be catastrophic for your business reputation as well as that of your employees. With so many employees now working from home, the risk potential for a cyber breach has exponentially increased. The most effective way to safeguard against this is a solid cyber insurance plan from the Business Insurance Center. Cyber insurance can help with prevention as well as protection for everyone involved in the event that such a disaster occurs. Additionally, having a cyber breach policy naturally builds trust with your employees and clients alike.
Strategies to Support Employees
Covid-19 created a world of change for businesses in the past 18 months. Many companies have had to make changes, such as laying off workers or restructuring. The effects we’ve seen may be only scratching the surface – there will likely continue to be many more transformations over time within this ever-changing environment. Work culture may have felt unstable or scary at times for employees and these new shifts may have affected their trust with management. Yet you can counter the effects of the pandemic by employing these simple strategies for employee engagement during Covid-19. The Business Insurance Center team is here to support you and your employees on this journey by providing a stabilizing comprehensive insurance and benefits plan. Call or click now and we’ll put together a customized benefits package designed specifically for your employees and business.
