Working from Home & Employee Engagement

Categorised in: Employee Engagement, News

As a by-product of the rise in online communication and collaboration tools, working from home and remote work are now both common features of the workplace. Indeed, the Coronavirus pandemic has led to thousands of companies sending their employees home, meaning workers around the world will be doing their jobs remotely for the foreseeable future. This makes understanding the work from home attitude more relevant than ever for employers.

Even before COVID-19, some employers have always been sceptical of the practice, believing it to have a negative impact on productivity. However, recent studies have shown that there are several ways working from home can actually benefit employee engagement. This means that implementing an effective remote work system could be vital to ensuring a harmonious work environment, especially during the uncertainty that the next few months will inevitably bring.

How does it improve employee engagement?

Benefits to the employee

If your staff can utilise remote working to better balance their professional and private lives, then the next few months could see them feel happier and more interested with their job. Indeed, prior to Coronavirus, whilst many staff stated that the lack of a commute and a more relaxed life-work mix were major perks, the most popular incentive for remote working was improved productivity. In turn, employee engagement can be linked to more flexible working schedules.

It can strengthen your workforce

Typically, companies with more liberal remote working practices have a better workforce overall. This is because it often means employers are more inclusive with who they hire. For instance, restrictions such as family commitments, disabilities, or geographical distances become less important. Consequently, the transition to remote working over the last few weeks will likely improve the options companies around the world receive for new staff. This usually leads to a company gaining better, more engaged employees.

A more harmonious work environment

Because many employees already view the practice as standard, allowing flexibility is crucial to ensuring a great work environment. This is reflected in Gallup research, which shows that 54% of office workers would leave their job for one offering a better remote working policy. * Moreover, this figure only likely to increase as COVID-19 forces more staff into working from home for the first time. Thus, the data highlights that it can lead to a happier workforce, which is only going to positively benefit employee engagement. 

Finding the balance

Of course, with millions transitioning to remote working this month, some disruption to the chemistry of your workforce is to be expected. This means that attaining the right balance with a remote work policy is necessary for strengthening employee engagement, particularly during the onset of Coronavirus.

HIVE360 can help with this balance by delivering essential communication, wellbeing support and lifestyle benefits to your staff. See how we design our services to boost employee engagement Here. You can also check out more of our advice on How to Engage with you Staff. For any help or support, feel free to Contact Us or see Our FAQs Page. 

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Symptoms and Information

Understandably, many employers are aiming for the pandemic to have a minimal impact on their company’s productivity. However, if any member of your staff believes they are developing symptoms then it is crucial that they take the appropriate measures to self-isolate. Also, as the health of your employees must be prioritised, it is vital that appropriate social distancing measures (such as working from home) are put into effect. 

If you’re unsure of the symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19), they are as follows:

• A high temperature: Feeling hot to touch on your chest or back
• A new and continuous cough: Meaning you’ve started coughing repeatedly

It is advised you should stay home if you are displaying either of these symptoms for at least 7 days. For more information please go to the NHS Coronavirus Site.

*https://www.gallup.com/workplace/283985/working-remotely-effective-gallup-research-says-yes.aspx