Keeping staff engaged during lockdown

Whether your business has been forced to shut down entirely, operate with minimal staff or work from home, lockdowns across Australia have created many difficult working situations. Here are a few tips to ensure that your staff remain engaged.

1. Video calls: We have all quite quickly become used to the idea of replacing face-to-face meetings with video calls. Whether you use, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or any other system, there is no doubting the power of being able to see a familiar face on screen.
2. Regular Information: We see premiers,the Prime Minister and world leaders proving our communities with daily updates. The same should be true of the leaders within your business. Your people don't necessarily need the same information recycled, but they would like to see it through the prism of your business. How does today's news impact operations. Even the smallest update becomes something that people look forward to each day.
3. Policy updates: Sure, daily news is interesting, but meaningful adaptations to your standard operating procedures and policies is on the next level. If you are not seeking to continuously improve and adapt the way you are working to meet the ever changing environment in which you operate, then you are missing a key part of your growth as a business. Using Op Central, updating your SOP's is easier than ever. Check out out SOP software for more info.
4. Engagement surveys: The best way to find out how someone is feeling, what they are lacking and what they are excelling at is to simply ask. Op Central's Culture Central has inbuilt staff engagement surveys ready for you to deploy.
5. Keep it light: When you've got large volumes of your workforce either on reduced duties and/or working from home, sometimes they just need to know you care - assuming of course that you do. Not every discussion has to be 'war and peace', not every idea has to be game changing. Just a casual chat about the weekend, their kids or what meal they cooked on the weekend in lockdown will release that pressure valve that many people have a desperate need to do at this time.

Most importantly of all, just stay active and engaged yourself and it'll help your people remain the same way.