EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
CATE MURDEN , FOUNDER OF PUSH
There are two major points to consider with regards to keeping employees engaged when at home – safety and optimum brain health . Let ’ s start with safety . Without a doubt , the pandemic has made us feel unsafe ; everyone has been affected in some way and that ’ s a scary and unbalancing notion .
Dan Rock created the SCARF model to understand the factors that make us feel unsafe and they seem especially pertinent now , with most of us trying to find our way in this ‘ new normal ’: Lack of control , lack of connection , lack of certainty , lack of fairness and lack of identity .
As a business leader , the best thing you can do is take these factors and ‘ audit ’ how they affect
your team , looking for ways to increase the feeling of safety . Ask yourself the following questions :
How as a leader can you affect these for your people ? What can you control – what can ’ t you ? How can you communicate to try and overcome uncertainty ( as much as possible )? How can you still bring people together even when they ’ re apart ? ( For a lot of our clients their ‘ we ’ re in it together ’ metric has increased over COVID ). How can you instil a sense of culture and team ? How can you consistently be transparent , fair and authentic when the team need it most ? What can you give the team control over ?
The next step is to ensure optimum brain health for your employees . When we started working from home , we were all blown away . Hold on , what ? We can do our work and make calls around the world , all from the comfort of our own home ? And , we can have our PJs on our bottom half while being around to put the kids to bed every night too ? Amazing ! and variety means that we all end up feeling constantly exhausted .
We have to be really careful to safeguard a healthy work-life brilliance , one which focuses on prioritising oneself and mentally draw a line between what is work and what is not . One of the ways to do that is by becoming acutely aware of how we ’ re splitting our time across the day . Dan Rock and David Seagal created the Healthy Mind Platter and said we need seven different components to get to optimum mental health : Focus , play , exercise , connection , reflection , sleep and relax . Every person has their own perfect blend of these . Encourage your team to work out what their personal blend is , making sure they have a combination of all of these every day in order to optimise their mental health .
Finally , you can help boost engagement levels by providing the team with one to two hours per week for their wellbeing – and enforce that they take this time . Individuals that pursue brilliance in their work-life routines will nurture a much stronger mindset , which in turn will increase productivity .
WE HAVE TO BE REALLY CAREFUL TO SAFEGUARD A HEALTHY WORK- LIFE BRILLIANCE , ONE WHICH FOCUSES ON PRIORITISING ONESELF AND MENTALLY DRAW A LINE BETWEEN WHAT IS WORK AND WHAT IS NOT .
However , as time has gone on , the fact that we have to work in the same place that we relax is relentless and the lack of mental stimulation
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