Speaker 1: Hello and thank you for stopping by to watch my video on 10 Proven Employee Engagement Activities in Times of Uncertainty. I have no doubt that you will enjoy this video. Many of you will agree with me when I say that 2020 has been an extraordinary year. Extraordinarily good for some and extraordinarily bad for others. And I mean this both from a personal and from a professional perspective. COVID-19 kind of crept up on us slowly in the last few months of 2019 and in Q1 of 2020 we could definitely feel that things were getting very serious. The way things unfolded afterwards were unpredictable and in times of crisis many companies did not and still don't have a properly set out contingent strategy for keeping employee morale, motivation and engagement high. I've witnessed organizations winging it, some successfully, others not particularly. So if you're watching this video, then my hope is that you are interested in ensuring that engagement is high in your place of work. So here is what you can expect from this video, Proven and Measured Crisis Communication Initiatives. My top tips on employee engagement during the current climate and creative ways to interweave positive psychology into your employee engagement strategy. If you're still struggling with internal communications, low morale and low engagement or simply want to ensure that your team is motivated, you will definitely find this video useful. As an expert in employee engagement and internal communications, in my 12 years of experience in an organization that has been awarded Best Employer, I have witnessed many global events, but none come close to affecting the workforce the way this contagion has. And as we continue our endeavors of keeping employees productive and engaged, here are my favorite trusted initiatives that I have implemented in 2020. They will give you results while promoting social distancing, of course. So let's begin with communications, a daily one page newsletter with information on how and what your company is doing, whether employees are working on site from home or not working at all. It is crucial to establish and maintain a more important regular communications routine than what you're used to. This will create and maintain a sense of connection to their workplace and their colleagues in times of uncertainty. Of course, it's up to you to decide the frequency that makes sense, but the bottom line is regular communication helps to maintain a touch point with your teams. Number two, something else you must do if you're not already doing so is to provide avenues for positive and constructive self-expression that are accessible to all employees, such as a company intranet, a Facebook page, or similar social platforms. All internal communications must be shared on this platform and concerns and queries of employees addressed in a timely manner, ideally within a couple of days if that's possible. I also encourage you to organize regular focus groups with various personas in order to get more detailed and specific feedback. And by personas, I really mean groups of people that have something in common. So it could be people from the same department, the same nationality, age group, marital status, their level within the organization, or even the fact that they're new joiners or perhaps even have worked there for a long time. These personas have something in common and will give you the feedback that is necessary to keep engagement high. Number three, a monthly virtual live streamed town hall meeting led by senior leadership with a pre-established agenda and ample time for Q&As from employees. Leadership visibility is paramount. The event must be advertised and booked into employees' calendars well in advance. And one way to encourage participation is to invite employees to submit their questions in advance, anonymously if they wish to, of course. Number four, another creative way of ensuring your team is aware of what is happening in the workplace and individuals are given a chance to connect with others is by creating a weekly video magazine. So as long as your company has some internal filming or editing talents or else a budget for external experts, employees' motivational stories of positivity, human connection, and selflessness may be shown to the company. The video magazine can also include entertaining quizzes, home sports challenges, and other engaging activities as well as, of course, company news. If not a full-on video magazine, then a simple weekly video from your CEO, which can even be recorded from PowerPoint, nothing hard or complicated there. And so now that I've covered the top ways of engaging employees from an internal communications perspective, it's time to review my top tips on employee engagement during the current climate. Number five, for starters, you will certainly need a Pulse employee well-being survey, which can be done through SurveyMonkey or a similar platform with 12 to 15 questions that will help you assess the psychological engagement and emotional situation of employees. Decide what you'd like to measure, inform your questions around it, look for quantitative questionnaires on happiness, optimism, resilience, and always include one qualitative or open-ended question. You could also try Pulse questions, which really means asking employees what they think about a certain initiative that you have recently introduced. This can be done more often than a longer survey and should ideally include a smaller population so that you can get quick and reliable results. Number six, something else that you can do, or continue to do, depending on your situation of course, is internal virtual online training and development classes. These are essential because continuous learning increases employee engagement. Sharpen the saw of your employees and encourage them to strive for progress. Ambition and potential promotions drive employees and give them a sense of purpose. Number seven, another way of promoting engagement or a sense of purpose and meaning at work is by giving back to the community through participating in CSR initiatives, or Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, and launching campaigns to promote environmental care focused on, for example, Earth Hour, Environment Day, Ocean Day. They generate a sense of pride and connection to a company that truly cares. This does wonders. With all these initiatives, make sure that you communicate, communicate, and communicate. Don't keep this all to yourself. Number eight, being physically active is a way towards personal well-being, which studies show correlates with employee engagement. What better way to encourage employees to be active than to create online sports competitions that measure steps and give rewards? Try non-contact sports such as badminton, for example. But like I previously mentioned, make sure that this is your own and make it fit with your company culture. Number nine, a creative way to interweave positive psychology into your employee engagement strategy is by introducing a four-week campaign to encourage gratitude, where employees are inspired to count their blessings through peer-to-peer appreciation letters, cards, personal thank you videos, channeled online discussions, and competitions. This will focus attention on what they have and how little they actually need. You could introduce similar campaigns, all focusing on positive constructs such as well-being, mindfulness and meditation, and resilience. Number ten, lastly, employer branding can be significantly promoted by sharing everything you do on sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn. And even better, why not use the collateral from positive employee testimonials to apply for best workplace awards? This is not only great for employer branding but also creates a workplace that people are proud to be associated with. Well those were my top ten tips on keeping employee engagement high. I hope you found some that resonate with you and please remember to reach out to me if you'd like to brainstorm some ideas that would fit within your particular organization. Subscribe to my channel to get your regular dose of everything employee engagement and positive psychology related. Please leave me a comment and let me know what your thoughts are. And now I'll leave you with this thought. Humans have always searched for a sense of purpose and work is inarguably one such source. Please keep in mind that effective communication must always be a two-way road where the voice of the employee is addressed and acted on. A strong leadership team creates a sense of security and promotes employee engagement significantly more than any monetary incentive can. My name is Kristina Vaneva and I'm on a mission to inspire and promote happiness. Thank you for watching and until next time.