Empowering Your People In a Changing Environment

Empowering Your People In a Changing Environment

Around the globe, businesses are facing a great deal of market turbulence that is forcing them to respond in unprecedented ways. In particular, companies are evaluating what opportunities there are to support their people and strengthen their corporate culture, as many team members are drastically shifting where and how they work. From remote working to altered workspace setups, leaders are quickly establishing new policies to keep their teams both safe and engaged.

Many companies understand that success comes from strong employee engagement. When team members feel valued and supported, they’re more productive, provide greater results and become strong brand ambassadors. Recent studies show companies with lower employee engagement scores were 18% less productive and 16% less profitable. At all times, employees should feel their businesses are invested in their growth, development and success. Satisfaction and morale are boosted when they trust that their leaders care about their individual well-being, when they’re provided the tools and support to make an impact, and when their work environment promotes a healthy, safe experience.

Impacts We Are Seeing

The current global crisis has created immense challenges for leaders in ensuring their people feel supported and engaged. While the workplace used to provide ample opportunities for teams to connect and collaborate with each other, many employees are now forced to separate and work from home.

Here are top concerns and challenges we are seeing businesses face across the globe:

• Employers are searching for new ways promote ongoing engagement and social connection with their fellow team members, whilst they’re separated physically
• New employees are being onboarded and trained virtually, losing opportunities to shadow their peers and connect with their new team
• Businesses are enacting ongoing policy changes to respond to regular government and economic shifts, creating internal communications risks or the perception of inconsistent treatment of staff
• Leaders are looking to better enable strong productivity from home, whilst also promoting a stable work-life balance

All these challenges pose significant risk to employee well-being and morale, and as a result, company success.

Opportunities for People and Company Culture Shifts

Despite the risks posed, times of crisis also pose significant opportunities to reevaluate corporate culture and invest in new permanent support systems. During the current crisis, businesses within the Volaris Group umbrella have invested in various opportunities to support their teams.

Here are recommendations based on successful programs our companies have implemented:

• Develop a consistent cadence of video conferences to foster greater connection and engagement
• Invest in home office supplies for team members so they have an improved workspace
• Schedule weekly or regular happy hours over video to enable team members to connect outside of their day-to-day work
• Host regular social engagement activities, such as quizzes, daily steps or physical health challenges
• Launch a learning and development portal or invest in third-party online learning platforms or courses
• Assign buddies or peer coaches to provide another avenue of developmental support

While many programs can be in place for the duration of the crisis, companies can consider permanent changes to implement, such as permanent remote working capabilities to save office space expenses. We also recommend that companies continue to ensure clear goal-setting and personal development structures are in place to support their team’s growth.

Conclusion

Companies with a strong corporate culture are well equipped to manage the risks imposed to their teams during turbulent times. However, they can always look into new opportunities and investments to further support and develop their people. To implement these programs successfully, we recommend leaders provide frequent and ongoing updates. Even when there are no new policies or announcements to share, having frequent and regular communications allows teams to feel connected and reduces anxiety. We also recommend leaders engage their employees to provide open and honest feedback. Enabling their voices to be heard will allow for ongoing improvements and provide employees with a sense of ownership and a greater sense of impact in company success.

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