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The now long-term nature of homeworking means continued isolation from colleagues and valuable work-related social activities, support structures and connections. Work-life balance and blurred boundaries between work and home may also become more problematic as homeworking continues.
Fears around job security are also likely to be prevalent for many employees, especially in those sectors that have been most affected financially. Many of the suggestions to support employee mental health set out above also apply to supporting long term homeworkers. Organisations may also wish to consider some of the following:
Organisations may also wish to undertake a listening exercise and survey their employees about their current state of mental health and wellbeing, and seeking feedback on the specific support they feel would benefit them in the months to come.
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Employee Engagement
Boost employee engagement by giving your staff a clear mission to engage with. Research shows that 73% of employees who report working for a ‘purpose driven' company are engaged compared to just 23% at ‘non-purpose driven’ companies. This shows communicating your company’s purpose plays a pivotal role in determining employee engagement levels. When people feel engaged at work they feel personally committed to the organisation’s purpose, values and goals. Engaged employees care about the company’s mission and will go above and beyond to achieve it. This is why it is so important to ensure staff understand the mission statement. Improves Productivity and Customer Satisfaction Research confirms that over a third of people work harder if they understand how their job contributes to the overall business goals and objectives. When employees support the company’s mission, they are more likely to communicate it to customers and boost customer satisfaction. Employer Accountability Builds Trust A strong business mission statement is a brilliant opportunity to build trust between employers and employees. By pinning your colours (or values, principles and goals) to the mast, you create accountability, as a company and employer. So ensure your mission statement speaks equally to external and internal stakeholders. When your employees see the message, it should communicate how the organisation will treat them, how it will benefit them and what to expect from working there. It means your employees can hold you to your word. A Strong Employer Brand Your mission statement also tells potential candidates what sort of employer you are. You can use it to create a strong employer brand that attracts talent. By encapsulating your values, culture and beliefs within the mission statement you will give prospective candidates a clear idea of who you are and what you expect from them. This encourages applications from people who share your values and your vision. Improves Learning and Development Understanding the business mission statement helps give employee training purpose and meaning. It helps each employee see how the course content benefits their personal career goals and the wider company mission. Give your training extra meaning by clearly communicating how it is tied into the company’s bigger purpose. How will the skills gained enable employees to achieve the company mission? By making this clear, learning will no longer be a tick-box exercise, but a meaningful development tool that people want to take part in. Aids Business Decision-Making People like to know what’s expected of them and with good reason. Clearly defined objectives help us focus and achieve our target. The business mission is the mother of all goals. It gives your employees’ short-term goals context and helps everyone stay on track to success. The mission statement also ensures strategic alignment across all levels of the organisation. So whatever day-to-day tasks each employee or team is working on, everyone is unified towards the company’s bigger purpose. This bigger picture can help guide decision making, prioritisation, strategies and goal setting. After all, if in doubt we can ask ourselves: “is what I’m doing right now helping achieve the business mission?” If not, it’s time to have a rethink and change our course of action. Improves Employee Retention Last but not least, a strong business mission statement improves employee retention. This is important because staff turnover is a huge concern for many employers. So give your employees a reason to stay! A clearly communicated business mission statement can help you hold onto top talent. Research shows that a strong sense of mission drives employee retention across generations. In fact, emphasising mission and purpose is one of the top two factors for keeping millennials, generation Xers and baby boomers in your organisation. Live Your Mission I can’t talk about values, purpose and mission, without mentioning the most important thing. Action! We hear it a lot in the business world but it can never be said enough – ‘Live your values’. Whatever, you claim to do or be in your mission statement – live up to your promises. This is vital because it doesn’t matter how eloquent, impressive or downright amazing your mission statement is, if it doesn’t resonate with your employees’ day-to-day experiences, they won’t connect with your message. |
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