During the past 18 months, employees have experienced the so-called work-from-home (WFH) experiment. Many have suffered from burnout, which leads to a series of psychological or physiological problems. Exhausted employees may encounter problems with their mental wellbeing (i.e., stress, tiredness, and depression), physical wellbeing (i.e., eating disorders and health problems), or emotional wellbeing (i.e., isolation and loneliness) issues on a day-to-day basis. Apart from burnout, a nascent topic is how to address the issue of boreout. Some employees lose interest in their current roles and are no longer passionate about what they are doing anymore.
On the other hand, the pandemic has made people rethink what they want to get out of their daily work. Is their current job meaningful? Should they persist in it? Could they see the light in the proverbial tunnel if they stay on? How could they integrate their life with work further on if the pandemic continues? What will the work productivity model look like during the post-pandemic period? How could they build a sense of belonging in a virtual world? In other words, the blurred work and life boundaries created during the WFH experiment helped ignite employees’ imagination about what they could become, and some may eventually choose to change their professions to fulfil their aspirations.
A recent McKinsey report based on 5,774 employees and 250 talent officers across five countries, including Singapore, indicated that 40 per cent of employees are leaving their current roles in the next three to six months. A great attrition is on the way and this time around, 36 per cent of those who are quitting are even prepared to leave without any job alternatives in hand.
The survey further illustrated that the key might lie because what employees desire does not correspond to their employers’ priority lists. It adds that employers tend to focus more on transaction factors such as compensation and health-related benefits but underestimate the relational aspects employees cherish, such as a sense of belonging, feeling valued by the employer/manager, advancement opportunities, and trust/caring in teams.
The unique culture that used to bond the employees is fading quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, employees are rethinking to what extent the employers can offer to attract and keep them satisfied. Unsurprisingly, a Universum survey showed that Generation Z from local universities ranked a friendly work environment, secure employment, and professional training and development as their top three drivers when choosing a job. Another finding from Michael Page points to the need for millennials’ six career needs – purpose, coaches, ongoing conversations, development, focus on strengths, and a lifestyle at work – to be fulfilled.
The question is how to close the gap between the expectations of both employers and employees. Fundamentally, it is essential to reconnect employees with one another to fulfil affiliation needs. How can employees’ career aspirations be integrated with a life purpose? How can employers help uncover employees’ strengths and help them discover the likely lifestyle they wish to attain through work? The whole rediscovery process involves lots of effort and continuous check-ins from leaders as well as employees.
First of all, how can unmotivated employees be encouraged to find interest at work and eventually stay and grow with the company? There are two levels to fulfil. Leaders will need to learn new skills about how to give recognition and appreciation at the personal level. At the organisation level, employers will need to rediscover alternate career paths innovatively. Many jobs are being disrupted due to COVID-19, and many employees are being transferred to new roles. In many cases, employees need to acquire new skills. How can the new skill certificates earned by employees be recognised for them to feel valued? Leaders can work together with affected employees to re-examine their fresh perspectives and newly acquired skills, find their passions, and redesign their new career paths together with an empathetic heart.
I have previously interviewed Speco, a cleaning-focused company (known as Spic & Span, founded in 2017) that has successfully transitioned to a cleantech company amidst the pandemic and has ventured out from Singapore to Malaysia, Hong Kong, and The Philippines. Benjamin Chua, Speco’s young CEO, proudly shared how he encouraged cleaners to join a specialist career path when the company first redesigned the cleaner’s job by introducing a cleaning technology pathway in 2019-20. However, during that period, cleaners were nervous about the new cleaning technology, and some left the company even though this new technology-enabled growth opportunities.
However, Chua has turned the situation around and helped the cleaners see ‘why’ it is important to move on and upskill. He said, “The workers have to pick up new technical knowledge and also must be comfortable in doing so. It is important first to instil a culture of innovation within the organisation to normalise the workers’ attitude towards change.” He has asked for feedback from the cleaners about what else can be done better and refrained from the ‘I tell you what you should do’ attitude. Based on their opinions, the job scope has been further redefined. This way, there is less resistance to change and new technology. He added, “If innovation can be inclusive, there is a higher chance of adoption, as there is buy-in from the ground level.”
The career aspirations of employees have to be addressed. Clearly, from Speco’s case, we can see how a leader can help integrate career progression with the company’s purpose of motivating employees to see the light in their lives.
Secondly, how can a culture be created that makes people feel valued and connected in the virtual world? The key is to connect people in a real-time basis so that employees could remain supported without feeling lost or isolated. For example, I spoke to TDCX, which shared how they moved beyond the technological support and wellness packs and quickly moved almost all their engagement activities online – ranging from induction, games and competitions – to continue maintaining the social aspect of their work life.
TDCX’s team managers would conduct daily check-ins to see how their team members are doing and what additional support can be provided if needed. The company also organises wellness activities such as online yoga classes to promote mental and physical wellbeing. In addition, its Employee Assistance Programme offers employees access to professional counsellors should they require real-time support. The company has also paid special attention to new employees by engaging them daily, thus helping them feel more welcomed. TDCX also started implementing weekly pulse surveys to get real-time feedback more proactively so that leaders and managers could have more productive and insightful conversations with team members and quickly act on the changes needed.
As a result, the employee satisfaction score has increased from 85 per cent in 2019 to 91 per cent in 2020, demonstrating a carefully designed engagement plan can help the company connect with everyone, even during the difficult pandemic period.
Lastly, how can employees be helped to integrate life aspirations with work? Employers can encourage creative initiatives from their employees and sponsor them to form co-curricular activities (CCA-like societies) at work. In this way, employees can continue to contribute to society and continue to connect with the like-minded community. The integration of work and life can be done through corporate social responsibility (CSR) related activities (community services). It could also be, for example, an interest group of plant lovers who share and exchange ideas about growing indoor plants or edible plants and so on. Employees can share what they have harvested by exchanging their plants or vegetables. If they work alternatively at office, they can exchange healthy salad or food with one another. The promotion of healthy living, eating, and gardening can contribute to the community and employee well-being. The interest groups can also collaborate and volunteer their services to NParks to dive into deeper connections with the community. By doing so, the interest groups can help to turn vulnerable feelings into positivity.
Other initiatives or interest groups could be digital or emotional skill enhancement learning groups that connect people to learn new skills together, flourishing through the learning sessions. Similar concepts can be applied to sports or cultural arts-related groups and so on. By creating various societies and interest groups at work, employees can collaborate and connect, reduce the level of loneliness, and eventually find exciting ways to celebrate their work with a lifestyle they are happy with.
To leaders, have you done enough to help your employees find their way or rediscover their long-lost interest at work? If you have yet to do so, it is never too late to invest in your talent at work.
The article is an abridged version of the one first published in CNA.