Keeping staff engaged & connected while working from home

By Erin Deter, simPRO People & Culture Manager

Here at simPRO, we have switched over to remote working as have many businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak. For staff who are accustomed to driving into the office in the morning, working face-to-face with colleagues, and interacting with people from different departments while on a lunch break or a walk to the water cooler, working from home can be a major shift.

If the office staff at your field service business have also switched over to remote work under the stay-at-home orders, you may find some employees struggling to adjust. As the People & Culture Manager for the simPRO US offices, I have provided some resources and activities that simPRO employees can engage in remotely to help with the transition.

Check out some of the fun ways our staff have stayed engaged and connected while working from home, and feel free to adapt or modify these ideas for your own company.

Interactive check-ins

Every few days, I like to send out some content via our internal messaging system with questions for reflection, tips for managing stress, fun activities to try outside of work hours, and other information. The purpose of this content is to guide staff to check in with themselves and keep the working-from-home atmosphere light and positive.

Virtual happy hour

Just because you can’t round up your team for an in-person activity doesn’t mean you can’t find fun ways to connect! I hosted a brief, virtual happy hour at the end of the workday in which I encouraged our employees to hop on a video call with their drink of choice. We had a few moments to check in with each other, share some jokes, and make a toast.

Stress management tips

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought stress to an all-time high across the world. In an effort to minimise stress levels for simPRO employees, I like to share tips for stress management that I personally enjoy and that I’ve come across online. There’s a lot of stress reduction content being shared at this time!

Tips and ideas I’ve shared with simPRO employees include:

• Breathing exercises to lower stress levels
• Emotional grounding practices to help stay in the present moment
• Recipes to stay physically and mentally healthy

Here are some additional ways you can keep your office staff engaged while working from home:

• Make sure your leadership team is initiating one on one phone calls or video calls to check in with staff.
• Send regular shoutouts via email or instant messaging to show that you recognise staff who are doing their best despite current changes.
• Set a standard for remote work by sharing examples of how you’re managing your time and staying organised as you work from home.

We’re so glad we have the resources to continue running simPRO while staff work from home. While COVID-19 has definitely brought on some unforeseen challenges, our staff has remained positive and continued to provide the best possible service for our customers.

If there is any way we can help your field service business as you switch over to remote work, please get in touch via our Contact Us page! We also encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter for field service industry resources during the coronavirus outbreak.