How to keep employees motivated during times of uncertainty

For more than two months, Russian business has been living in a new reality. Most companies have to quickly adapt to the changes that occur almost every day. And if at first there was no understanding of how long the difficult period would drag on, now it becomes clear that in this new reality we have to work and develop the business for a long time to come.

At the start, many opted for a wait-and-see attitude, but now the time has come for making difficult decisions, restructuring familiar processes and serious changes.

And of course, this can negatively affect the motivation of employees and their loyalty to the company. Moreover, now many of them live in a mode doomscrolling and surrounded by a huge amount of stress factors.

It is very important to build the management of employees in such a way that they feel protected at least in the professional sphere of their lives. Then it will be easier for the business to mobilize all its resources and inspire staff to intensify their work. It only takes a few steps to do this.

1. Optimize the system of monetary motivation and tell employees about it

Most companies are thinking about the income of team members now. And those who are not reduces personnel, but rebuilds monetary motivation schemes, are in the most advantageous position.

In difficult times, employees must bring real value to the business. Only in this case the company will be able to provide them with the preservation of income or its minimum reduction.

Bonuses and bonuses must be clearly linked to global goals.

Conduct an audit of premium payments and KPI for all positions and evaluate how they are tied to the key tasks of the company. Remove all items that are insignificant for priority areas, and bet on what is really important in the current situation.

Be sure to tell your employees about the new system. After all, uncertainty is demotivating. People have thoughts: “What if I get fired tomorrow or my salary is cut? Why then work harder and look for new opportunities to develop your areas?”

The more transparent the relationship between salary and real benefits for the business, the clearer it will be for the employee in which direction to move in order to maintain their income. This will motivate people to work harder, harder and more productively.

2. Be closer to your employees and not hide important information from them

During difficult times, it is important to be constantly in touch with your team and speak openly with the staff about everything that happens in the company. The experience of working during the lockdown and restrictions of 2020 has shown that only honest and constant information employees helps to eliminate the spread of rumors, overcome the fear of losing a job and reduce the degree tension in a collective.

Now there is a similar situation: uncertainty, turbulence and frequent changes in the rules of the game in the market. Therefore, the best thing that can be done is to show employees the loyalty of the organization.

Be open to suggestions, answer questions, talk about the current situation in the company, show what measures are being taken.

Be sure to get people involved corporate information field and give them the opportunity to take the initiative and do something useful for business.

It is important that the staff see that the company is in full swing and everyone is focused on achieving a common result. To do this, you can introduce the format of public monthly reports on the achievements of departments.

For example, they can be published in a corporate task management system - many of these services have live message feeds that all employees can see.

3. Give employees more freedom

One of the main mistakes of many leaders is the tightening of control over employees in difficult situations. Now, on the contrary, it is worth giving people more freedom - of course, if we are not talking about a secure enterprise.

You can send those who find this format of work more convenient to a partial remote work, make a floating schedule, or give one extra day off per week.

The main thing is for the employee to be in touch, to achieve the set goals and show the desired results.

And it is better to exclude constant control now, so as not to pull the person and not to strengthen anxiety and nervousness. The more comfortable and confident he will feel, the easier it will be for him to achieve the solution of the tasks that the leadership sets before him.

4. Set clear goals and provide informative feedback

Managers often neglect detailed explanation of assignments and open evaluation of staff performance. It seems to many that the employee already understands everything. And if not, then these are his personal problems - he will figure it out in the process.

This approach negatively affects the performance of people. They have to spend a lot of time guessing, reworking and deciphering what the boss ultimately wanted to say.

Moreover, it can greatly demotivate staff. It will seem to employees that they are not heard, not understood. And constant correction of mistakes due to lack of clarity of tasks can significantly lower their self-esteem as professionals.

Therefore, the leader must formulate his instructions as clearly as possible and clarify with his subordinates whether they understand everything. Better yet, ask them to tell you how they plan to implement the task.

In addition, you need to be in touch with employees and respond to their questions in a timely manner. And at the end of the work it is worth giving a detailed feedback, which should include not only constructive criticism, but also well-deserved praise. Employees need to feel that management appreciates their contribution to the common cause.