The international health crisis has changed the way in which a significant portion of the world’s businesses and employees operate. Various lockdowns prompted remote working operations to take place, businesses become further dependent on cloud-based technologies, and workplace duty of care was thrown under great scrutiny as employees began dealing with a new swathe of potential physical and mental health issues.
As such, companies looking to empower their workforce and move forward with success in a post-pandemic environment have had to critically examine and, in many cases, restructure their operations to ensure that they are meeting their goals. The challenge, however, is not as easily accomplished as it may seem. Simply having employees telework is not an effective panacea. In fact, there are a few essential considerations that must be made.
Workplace Counselling
Changes in business structure have a remarkable effect on employees. Even relatively minor changes, such as salary dates or timetable adjustments can have major knock-on effects. At a time when businesses are restructuring and revising their entire operations, many employees will undergo challenges, especially with their mental health.
Remote working, for example, has demonstrated that employees can quickly feel isolated from teams and colleagues and those returning to the office can experience anxiety about shared spaces. Others may find that their schedules are becoming too busy or that a team’s new structure causes interpersonal stress.
While these issues can’t entirely be avoided, they can be remedied with workplace counselling and other duty of care measures that allow employees to seek support for their wellbeing. If your business does not have an open culture of support, it is time to begin establishing one.
Professional Development
Improving the skills of employees through training is beneficial for both employees and employers, which is why corporate training courses have long been favoured among businesses. By training employees, you are demonstrating a willingness to invest in their ability, giving them skills that allow them to excel in tasks and, eventually, grow beyond their current role. Highly-skilled employees also benefit the company by reducing risk and increasing productivity, as well as reducing the likelihood of staff turnover by typically feeling greater loyalty to the business.
By offering recruitment jobs in London, businesses also demonstrate to outsiders the foundation of opportunity.
. This increases the quality of job applications and business reputation, showing others that you are a forward-thinking operation that is willing to develop its employees’ abilities.
Open Platforms
Communication during the pandemic became difficult and many of these distances, those of physical and digital communication, have persisted beyond the immediate health crisis. As such, it can be difficult to maintain effective channels of communication within a business, leaving employees to feel misunderstood or ignored.
By creating open platforms, whether in online groups or social meets, employees will be able to feel empowered to communicate their feelings with their line manager and their coworkers. Occasionally, this may require private or anonymous communication, which should also be considered.
Infographic provided by Halock Security Labs, an internal penetration testing company