2020 wasn’t the best of times to be an employer. We’re all hoping for a better 2021, but if we’re being honest, there’s isn’t much light at the end of the tunnel.
As an employer, the COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt twisted your arm in multiple ways. From its onset, you were probably forced to adopt a remote working system and as things worsened, you might have had no choice but to let go of some of your workers.
If you still have your team together, count your lucky stars. However, now is the time to shift up your employee care game. There’s a lot of economic and health uncertainty in the world right now, showing them a little more care can go a long way.
But how do you do it?
In this article, we’re sharing the different ways you can show your employees you care about them.
- Remote/Flexible Work Schedules
Like most non-essential businesses, you probably embraced remote work as soon as business closures and stay-home orders started taking effect. Although the pandemic is still raging on aggressively, we’ve established ways to return to our normal lives safely. Several businesses have since recalled their employees to the workplace.
If you’re among these businesses, one of the high-impact things you can do to care for your employees is to continue with the remote work system.
Of course, it isn’t feasible to just adopt a blanket work-from-home system. If you run a traditional business, it’s going to take a long time before you can fully go remote. The best thing is to offer flexible work schedules where employees work from home on a rotating basis.
That being said, don’t think this system is disadvantageous to your business. In fact, remote work has been shown to be beneficial to businesses. Even long before the coronavirus reached our shores, an increasing number of small businesses were already embracing it.
- Lend a Listening Ear
According to a 2020 survey, 40 percent of employees find their work very or extremely stressful.
Going by this survey, we can estimate that 4 in every 10 of your employees are overly stressed. A stressed employee isn’t going to put in their best shifts, which means your company’s overall productivity could go down.
If you’re an unemphatic employer, you might dismiss this information, saying everyone has their own stresses to deal with. You still expect them to put in a proper shift.
Well, if that’s your thinking, you aren’t doing your company any favors. In the long-term, increased workplace stress levels will see higher absenteeism and even turnover.
What can you do to help your employees become or feel less stressed? There are many actionable steps you can take, but none beats lending them a listening ear.
When was the last time you poured out your problems to someone? Not that you wanted them to act, but to just listen? You felt like a whole load had been lifted off your shoulders, right?
That’s the same effect you’ll have on your employees when you offer to listen to them. And listening doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to come with their problems. Some just want someone to listen to their dreams, hopes, and aspirations.
- Opportunities for Career Growth
Career stagnation is a common point of concern among most workers.
When a worker stays in the same position for several years, they’re bound to feel hopeless and might want to jump ship in search of opportunities for career growth.
As an employer, striving to create opportunities for career growth is one of the best things you can do when you care about your employees. Sure, it’s impossible to help every employee advance in their career, especially if you run a small business. However, making them see that you’re always working toward creating opportunities and promoting from within instead of hiring outsiders when a position arises, will go a long way.
A great alternative for this is investing in your employee’s training and development. Enroll them in courses or programs that will equip them with advanced knowledge and skills. This way, they’ll feel well equipped and ready to advance to a greater position when it arises.
- Financial Wellness
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed its catastrophic hand, 80 percent of workers were already living paycheck to paycheck.
Of course, you pay your workers at least the minimum wage, but this is barely enough. The cost of living is ever rising, which means most of your workers aren’t financially healthy. A poor state of financial wellness will have an effect on their happiness and productivity.
It’s understandable that you might be running on a shoestring budget, meaning there’s little you can do to improve your workers’ financial wellness. However, it’s not always about increasing someone’s salary.
There are measures you can take to improve the financial wellness of your employees. Putting in place a reward system, for example, can help. Be sure to find out more about some of these measures.
- Say “Thank You”
Isn’t it amazing how two magical words can make a whole world of difference? Saying “thank you” when an employee does an excellent job has a great impact on their well-being. It shows that you care and sometimes a caring boss is what we all need.
Master the Important Science of Employee Care
On the surface, the employer-employee relationship is transactional. You pay them for their services. However, the truth is your employees become your family, and it’s your duty to care for them. With these employee care tips, you now know what you can do to make their lives better.
Stay tuned to our blog for more workplace tips.
