Working from home is fun if done intentionally. But when you are forced into a house arrest for an indefinite period due to a pandemic taking the world head-on, it is neither fun nor leisure. Besides, working from home in the pandemic era can lead to some grave complications.

The pandemic, coupled with its fear and the subsequent lockdown, is taking a toll on mental health. People are losing focus and subsequently facing the loss of motivation. This turn-off is vividly visible in their professional lives. Loss of motivation is the main complication that companies are facing these all over the world.

Worldwide companies are leaving no stone unturned to make their employees cheerful and optimistic and motivating them as much as possible. Take it from the HRs, they are constantly churning out new and innovative ways to pull up employee morale even in this ‘work from home’ set-up.

As work-from-home (WFH) is becoming the new norm, HRs have started repurposing various digital means to take over the floor conversations and fun events. All they need to do is keep the employees motivated. To achieve this, the HRs recommend –

More video conferences and fewer voice calls

The first thing that the video calls will do is to motivate the employees to get off house clothes and get somewhat decked up for the video call. This is known to blow confidence into the otherwise lazy people and make them feel closer to their colleagues and office. Even if the subject is trivial, let every employee speak and express his or her opinion over the video call. Help them rebuild their confidence.

No substitute for recognition

Recognition in the form of rewards (monetary or non-monetary) is the biggest cheerleader of all times. If an employee has done something worth recognizing, shower appreciations, and encouragements on him or her. It works like magic on depressed people. It will work as a productivity-booster as well.

One-on-one conversation is the key

In challenging times like this, employees might get themselves into an existential crisis, and here, communication can play its cards. A manager or team leader connecting with the teammates on a personal one-on-one level boosts their motivation levels to the maximum. A simple reassurance of backing or one empathetic move to help or a small motivational line to inspire does the job.

Fun activities are imperative

Face it, working from home is too monotonous, and sometimes the deterrence comes from this monotony as well. Whether it team bonding events or jamming sessions, remote working needs to cover these as well. One day in a week, preferably the weekend should let people loosen up after an entire week of continuous work amid the fear of COVID-19 transmission.

WFH office timings for work-life balance

A work-life balance needs to be maintained, whether a person is working from home or office. Burnouts are evident when employees are losing themselves to uncertainty. So, people must be generous towards their bodies and minds equally. So, it is helpful to fix particular work timings and refrain from working post that time and at weekends too. This will help people rejuvenate for a busy week again.

To sum it all up

Functioning differently from the regular patterns and routines makes us feel lost and hence demotivated. As working from home is the requirements now, organizations and their respective HR departments are trying day in and out to keep employees connected, motivated, and productive too. This is the first time that we are enduring a pandemic, so none of us have any tried and tested tactic to sail smoothly through this. The management and the HRs are working in a continuous loop to keep up the employee motivation and sparkle so that the swim through this COVID-19 pandemic becomes a bit easier!