It’s safe to say that COVID-19 has quickly changed the way organizations function day-to-day. Businesses have been forced to send their teams to work from home if they can, and have even had to lay off full-time staff to handle the plummet in profit. Unless your business was already accustom to flexible working, transitioning to remote work overnight may have come with challenges.
Protecting Your Remote Workers During This Time
To help, we’ve rounded up some tips on how to protect the emotional safety and security for your remote workers during this time.
- Maintain regular contact. Organize a daily call with everyone on your team to ensure they have ample support and opportunities to address issues with the group. It’s important to remind them that they are part of the bigger team.
- Give them some space. While it’s necessary to stay in contact with your employees when working from home, you also don’t want to micromanage their work and put more pressure on them. Employees want to feel that you trust them enough not to be constantly checking in.
- Reinforce standard security practices. Hold a session to go over tips for how to work securely at home, and let your team know that they can ask questions.
- Establish expectations. Everyone is feeling the pressure to show how they bring value to the team, especially with the uncertainty of the future that might bring about layoffs. Ensure that you clearly let your team know each role’s expectations so that everyone is on the same page.
- Make yourself available as a resource. Your employees should feel that you are there for them. Let them know that you are there to support them, whether that means talking to you about their stressors or making reasonable requests to make their current situations workable.
Small businesses should consider the emotional and security support for remote workers to come out of the pandemic stronger. For more guidance on growing your own business, contact the Economic Development Collaborative. Conveniently located in Camarillo, California, we’re here to help and have a free resource guide on how your business can handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
