Managing Your Employees Post-Furlough

Four tips to help disengaged staff feel like part of the team again.

Thousands of furloughed workers are starting to return to work after a lengthy period at home. Bringing furloughed staff back on board at your business presents its own unique challenges, from motivating your people back into the workplace, to helping them adapt to a new way of working.

It would be a mistake for organisations to expect employees to return to normal as soon as lockdown restrictions are lifted. COVID-19 is the biggest health crisis of our generation and it’s going to take time to reassure employees things are okay before they return to work.

After a prolonged period of working from home, alone and to a different routine, employees returning to work may be disengaged with work practices, expectations, and purpose. As such, to successfully re-engage furloughed employees, organisations will largely have to treat everyone returning to work as a new member of staff, providing them time to settle in, and working hard to create a new sense of belonging.

Although many people are looking forward to getting back to some resemblance of normality, some may not be relishing the thought of coming back to work at all. Having had a taste of home working and the benefits that this provides, for example, more family time, fewer issues around childcare and increased flexibility around working hours, many employees may not be looking forward to re-engaging with the ‘old way’ of working and will be looking for more from their employer. This is where re-engagement after furlough may have to be stepped up a gear to keep team members happy and the organisation productive.

Workforce management software is a powerful tool when it comes to re-engaging employees who have been out of the loop for an extended period. It enables management teams to best support the needs of each individual member of staff, and also empowers the employee to plan and manage their own work lives, providing them with a better work/life balance.

By helping team members feel connected to the company’s objectives and understand the part they are playing to contribute to the overall goal, workforce management solutions like TimeGate and the TimeGate E-Engagement Pack put the individual at the centre, making everyone feel valued. Here are four integral ways automation and employee self-service options can assist when managing your employees post-furlough.

1. Understanding employees’ concerns

Organisations can listen to and directly address individual concerns about returning to work. Promoting what the business has done to guarantee their health and safety (e.g., risk assessment reports, changes to the workplace infrastructure) via an e-engagement tool will help alleviate some employee’s fears over returning to the workplace.

2. Reinforcing values and objectives

Furloughed employees may have suffered an understandable loss of drive and vision whilst unable to work. It’s vital therefore to instil a sense of purpose early on when re-boarding a team. E-engagement tools can communicate the vision of the company, reminding people of the purpose and value of the objectives they’re working towards.

3. Maintaining motivation with clear KPIs

Providing individuals with clear targets, projects and challenges will help tackle demotivation. E-engagement can clearly provide, then monitor and measure, meaningful KPIs to foster a sense of accomplishment for the employee.

4. Giving employees increased control

Employees are likely to feel more resistant to returning to work if they feel like they don’t have any control over the situation. Employers can mitigate these concerns by offering them more control over their work. Automation and self-service options from an e-engagement solution can increase employee productivity, collaboration and ultimately, satisfaction. Allowing this flexibility will help employees feel more in control of how they choose to work.

For those workers returning from furlough, companies will have to help them settle back into working life, being considerate of the effect the pandemic has had on their mental health, circumstances, and logistics of working. Ultimately, employees want to feel supported and cared for by their employers, so developing a strategy around this key fact will produce an effective re-engagement programme.

For more information on how solutions like TimeGate and the TimeGate Engagement Pack can help re-engage your workforce, visit our E-Engagement page.