Desperate times call for thoughtful measures. The global Coronavirus pandemic has pushed the people managers to take desperate measures to lead their teams through this stressful time. You are doing everything possible under the sun, from enabling your teams to work from remote locations, giving them sufficient access to technology, providing them transparency on the business front through consistent communication, and making sure there’s a human connection in this newly formed virtually connected corporate world.

But are these enough? What do employees really need from their managers and business leaders? What do you think will make them feel inspired and confident to survive these challenging times? The answer lies in instilling faith in employees that we are in this together.

Employees are looking at their managers and organisations to give them directions amid chaos, confusion and crisis. Here are 5 areas that organisations can focus on to make their employees feel inspired and motivated to keep the business continuity intact.

#1 Personal & Team Wellbeing 

In the midst of troubled times, when the employees are stressed and uncertain about what’s going to happen next, they definitely need a sense of safety and comfort, physically, emotionally and socially. As managers, having a people-first strategy during a crisis is must. You need to communicate openly and obsessively about personal wellbeing and team wellbeing to ensure there’s collaboration instead of confusion and panic. Panic could be worse than the pandemic! Taking an empathy-based approach will drive productivity and engagement at an individual and team level.

#2 Maintain ‘Human’ Connection 

In this period of crisis when social distancing has become a norm and almost everyone is working from home, barring the few bravehearts of essential services, maintaining a human connection is of paramount importance. Managers play a critical part in keeping the human connection alive during virtual connects and social distancing times. Apart from work-related discussions, having your favourite beverage or meal or even playing a virtual game ensures there’s consistent engagement and bond beyond work between teams. This kind of strong bond and collaboration goes a long way and the positive impact will remain even after the crisis is over.

#3 Transparency and Direction 

Employees are staring at confusion and chaos and all they need is transparency from their leaders and organisations. People managers will have to be the torchbearers to give directions and lead people through these troubled times. Keeping your people updated on the business continuity front, about the interim plans and processes, leadership directions through initiatives such as virtual town halls,  connects and consistent and timely internal communication, are certain ‘must-haves’ for organisations to sail through the troubled times.

#4 Authentic Recognition & Appreciation 

We need to activate the principle of reciprocity to give back to the employees by acknowledging, recognising and appreciating their contributions, more than ever, during the period of crisis. Align your overall recognition strategy to impact-specific goals during these challenging times, be it cost savings, new and innovative revenue streams, productivity in this new virtual environment or even delivering proof of value to clients. Managers must recognise behaviours, recognise teams, and recognise individual contributors to display the same proportion of intensity.

#5 Make Every Moment Count 

This is the time for the organisations to go full throttle in activating their employee value propostion. How can we, as leaders, come together and make every moment in the employee lifecycle count so that the employees are engaged and inspired? Be it recognising above & beyond efforts, celebrating special occasions, calling out specific actions, enabling CSR initiatives or taking care of mental well-being Managers and leaders must stay true to the organisation’s employee value proposition and core values and treat all employees with dignity to keep them inspired and engaged.

Times are uncertain, leaders and managers are expected to rise up to the occasion, make sacrifices, and do the right things to keep their teams inspired and engaged to weather the storm. Every moment matters, every gesture counts, stay connected with your teams and ensure transparency, safety, and authenticity, and don’t forget to recognise relentlessly.