The Covid-19 pandemic dramatically changed how, when, and where work gets done. For most organizations, it came at the expense of employee experience such as burnout, time spent in meetings, mental health problems, work-life imbalance, and decreased levels of personal well-being.
For facility management practitioners, it provided a major opportunity to demonstrate their competence and capacity to support the objectives of businesses as strategic partners.
Facility managers working with other leaders in organizations can improve employee experience by applying the six points below which serve as lessons for those rethinking their strategies in a workplace that is forever changed by unforeseen circumstances.
Flexibility: The single biggest change to organizational culture since the pandemic is the increased focus on flexibility for employees in the discharge of their responsibilities. Inherent in flexibility is the need to trust in employees that they will deliver results without being closely monitored.
This situation was forced by Covid-19 as the workplace was not considered safe enough for employees to work. However, it requires organizations to trust their employees to make good decisions about when and how they perform their work.
Communication: Communicating frequently and transparently creates an opportunity for organizations to improve employee experience as this builds trust between both parties. The impact of the pandemic on most organizations is the increased focus on creating robust, consistent and aligned communication strategies.
Businesses not only need to trust their employees but to gain their employees’ trust. The businesses that did this best were those that opened the lines of communication through forums like virtual town halls and skip-level meetings where leaders were sincere. These intentional opportunities for meaningful conversation provided a platform for employees to offer honest feedback, broke down barriers between leadership and staff, and helped leaders to be aware of the experiences of their employees.
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Genuine Care: As facility managers, being indifferent to the well-being of employees has never been more harmful than during the pandemic. The Covid-19 crisis placed organizational focus on employees with priority on their well-being and safety. An opportunity to improve employee experience in the workplace means making genuine caring a priority. Most organizations increased well-being initiatives such as ensuring employees had the resources they needed, and implemented new safety guidelines in the workplace. This made employees feel connected with the organization.
Inclusion: Creating an inclusive environment devoid of bias became a priority, with organizations increasing their focus on providing stronger support, guidance, and training for leaders and managers to do so. The events of the past two years accelerated the focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion that had been slowly, but steadily growing for a long time. Recognizing the diverse needs and experiences of employees helps create a working environment where everyone feels respected and valued.
Vision, Mission and Values: A common problem can serve as a unifying force for employees in the workplace regardless of how and where they work. The pandemic has created an opportunity for greater focus to be placed on ensuring that mission, vision, and values of organizations are better understood and widely championed as businesses reposition themselves in the wake of the unprecedented impact of Covid-19.
Change Management: Organizations should use the crisis created by the pandemic as an opportunity to change and be agile in order to improve employee experience in the workplace rather than allow the crisis to impede them. Organizations need to continue to evolve with ever-changing obstacles to ensure their longevity.
With the future workplace ready to embrace a hybrid work model, an opportunity has presented itself for facility managers to improve the employee experience.
