How to Keep Your Employees Healthy and Productive During the Pandemic
by Abdul Aziz Mondal Business Development Published on: 24 September 2021 Last Updated on: 21 October 2024
In March of 2020, the entire world watched as businesses closed, and countries closed their borders.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot about how we all live, how we socialize, and how we work worldwide.
In the modern business world, it’s hard enough to keep employees productive even without a raging pandemic. And in today’s pandemic climate, it has become a best practice to ensure that you’re keeping your employees both healthy and productive if you want to maintain a successful business.
Fortunately, there are many innovative ways to ensure your employees’ safety and productivity while on the job. And this doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg either as long as you stick to a sound strategy.
Here, we’ll explore a few ways on how to keep your employees safe and productive during the pandemic.
Employee Wellness
Personal wellness has been thrust into the popular western culture within the last couple of decades, and this is one of the best foundations for keeping employees happy and productive.
For example, many companies have been utilizing a “wellness allowance” for employees. And this is almost like an added bonus for performance at work.
Some companies have stipends for wellness retreats, as well as offering to pay 50 percent of a wellness regimen, whether this is for a trip to the chiropractor or for a weekly yoga class. You can even give employees an allowance for wellness added to their salary if you desire.
Other methods include bringing wellness into the workspace. Some businesses have even gone the extra mile and have built a wellness facility onsite which might include a masseuse or a workout facility, or by employing a staff health consultant.
Reduce Off-Site Duties
Often during a regular business day, you might have to send your employees out into town to run errands, drop off goods, or pick up supplies. The only problem here is that now, during the pandemic, sending your employees out into town runs the risk of them coming into contact with an infected person, and catching COVID-19.
In addition, you might also have a situation arise where an employee is involved in an accident while performing work-related duties. And this will have you paying for car accident attorneys, among other expenses.
Instead of having your employees run the risk of being infected with COVID-19, you can outsource your in-town needs by utilizing courier services or delivery companies.
And though you might have to pay extra for these services, this mitigates the risk of you losing an employee because he or she is out sick for several weeks if not longer.
Monthly Incentive Programs
While the pandemic might have everyone anxious or paralyzed with inaction at times, this is the type of behavior that doesn’t bode well for productivity.
One thing that you can do to both boost morale and ensure employee productivity is to hold a monthly incentive program.
You can even implement a weekly or quarterly incentive program if you desire, but the key is to offer employees some sort of bonus for completing a certain amount of work, or for attaining a business-related goal.
Some incentives could be an added dollar amount to their paycheck or a cash award. You can even go the extra mile and offer the grand prize of an attractive raise. Regardless, incentives such as these will get your employees buzzing, and perhaps you’ll even spark a little camaraderie and friendly competition within your work environment.
With the pandemic still in full swing as of 2021, and with the Delta variant still driving infection rates through the roof, it’s probably going to be another year or two before a new sense of normal has returned.
Meanwhile, as a business owner, it’s up to you to keep your employees both healthy and productive and to use any means that you have to secure your business security.
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