Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen - July 2020 | страница 8

Keeping Employee Motivation High
In Times of Stress
By Rebecca
Coleman
With the onset of the
worldwide COVID-19
pandemic, life as we knew
it changed dramatically.
The pandemic has affected nearly every
aspect of our lives and that, of course,
includes work. Many are now working from
home, but there are some industries that
are considered to be “essential services.”
Workers in these sectors are still expected
to come to work. Which brings us to the
topic of employee motivation.
How do you inspire people who are afraid
working might endanger them?
Employee motivation is a challenge for
business owners and managers at the best
of times. But in times like these, keeping
employees excited to come to work and do
their best work can be doubly hard.
Improve employee motivation with these
5 tips
An engaged and motivated employee is
going to show up for work, both physically
and emotionally. So how can you inspire
your employees in this very difficult time and
make them want to do their best work?
1. Ensure their physical safety.
2. Pay attention to their emotional safety.
3. Keep the lines of communication open.
4. Encourage work/life balance.
5. Stay calm, be flexible and cut the red
tape.
Before we explore the things you can do to
improve workers’ attitudes, let’s explore the
human impact of large-scale disasters.
The emotional toll of public crises
Psychologically, there are some big
emotions happening right now:
Loss of control
No matter who you are, no matter where you
live, nearly everyone has had a disruption of
their schedules. In addition, there is a feeling
of being out of control, because nobody
has any idea exactly how long our lives will
be like this. It is likely that the industries
that have been hardest hit, like tourism and
hospitality, will not see any semblance of
normalcy until a vaccine is developed. It’s
an incredibly unsettling feeling, to not be
able to plan or have any idea what the future
holds.
Fight or flight
During a pandemic, there is a very real
threat from an invisible enemy. This
triggers our “fight or flight” response, and
that means most of our psychological and
physical energy is going into trying to make
ourselves feel safe. Higher-level thought
processes aren’t as accessible to us in this
state.
Call to heroism
Everyone wants to be needed but, unless
you work in healthcare, it’s a rare thing to be
6 DITCHMEN • JULY 2020