Burnout, video call fatigue and extended working hours are just some of the new challenges work from home has given rise to. However, one can agree that switching off from work could be the king of these challenges! Switching off mentally and physically is not as simple as one claims it to be. And if something as plain as this doesn’t have a concrete solution, it’s time to check your company’s happiness quotient!
Why?
Because if your employees cannot break away from work even after logging out, productivity and creativity decreases tremendously. And if that’s the case for majority of the workforce, your organization is facing a crisis you aren’t even aware of. Running pulse surveys to check the happiness quotient of employees, helps in identifying the real gap. But it’s easier said than done!
Importance Of Switching Off
Quarantine life has made one’s home the new office space as well. Living and working in the same set up for months can blur professional and personal lines easily. Numerous video calls, virtual meetings and the unending hours in front of a screen is causing immense distress for employees. In such cases, digitally detoxing is as important as a vacation. This is also why one needs to switch off from work in order to maintain employee wellbeing.
Psychology has determined that people who can disconnect from work, procrastinate less and are more likely to be engaged. They face less work-related fatigue and have an enriching employee experience. Those who find it difficult to switch off tend to be disgruntled and in a constant state of never-ending worry. And in the long run, their outlook towards work take a downturn.
How Pulse Surveys Help
The basic objective of employee pulse surveys is to check employee satisfaction, interpersonal relationships, work culture, job roles, communication, and employee engagement. Regularly rolling out pulse surveys can give HR teams a detailed insight to what areas of the employee experience needs improvement.
Using propriety algorithms, this survey tool incorporates your company values with core pillars and unearths what matters to your organization. Action plans can be enforced to ensure a sustainable and measurable impact on the basis of data. Happiness quotient of employees can answer what drives individuals based on their professional and personal choices. This enhances decision making for the management and leadership teams. Moreover, it enables the organization to stay ahead of the curve by building strategies based on employee driving factors.
It’s A Two-Way Street
Switching off has a lot to do with how one manages work and what one does post work. To disconnect completely, the onus lies on the employee and the organization.
Employees, turn off notifications of recreational apps to maximize on working hours by plotting timelines against your to-do list. Ensure you’ve marked time off for lunch and tea breaks. It’s also crucial to define one corner of your house as your workstation as it helps get into the right mindset. After logging out for the day, shut shop completely and move away from your work setup. Try keeping out from that space. Schedule leisure activities around logging out time. This automatically becomes a routine to stop work at a reasonable hour and make time for oneself.
Companies, enhance the employee experience by executing refreshing and impactful initiatives. “No meeting day” is an effective tactic to improve time management as it helps employees focus on completing actual work. Enforce guidelines that restrict scheduling meetings before/after working hours. Encourage managers to log out on time so that employees can follow suit; for after all, teams mirror their managers’ behaviour at work.
As stated earlier, switching off from work mentally and physically is easier said than done. Employees and organizations need to follow certain guidelines and help each other out in enhancing employee wellbeing, and in turn, the wellbeing of the company. And one way of getting this right is by identifying the happiness quotient of employees.
