How to Engage Furloughed Employees
The concept of furlough is now widely known around the world as millions of people face their new realities. Along with new normal and looming uncertainty are new challenges for employers to find new and creative ways to maintain their relationships with their employees and actively engage with them so that when it is time to onboard once again, the transition may be seamless.
Currently, employees have been furloughed for months and mounting basic human needs are threatening to shift their status from furloughed to job seeking. For employers looking to bring back their employees, there must be steps taken to maintain the connection. Contact is key.
Staying in touch with your employees even just to check in will have a lasting impact on the relationship with each employee and most importantly it is a great way to build trust especially in a time of profound uncertainty. This goes beyond generic company emails created for mass communication which oftentimes produces feelings of neglect. Staff members seek personalized messages as a means of some type of security or reassurance. Personalization is an effective way to boost or stabilize employee morale.
Below are three tips to help companies retain their furloughed workforce:
1. Rebuild
During the time in which your staff is furloughed, there is an opportunity to focus on neglected areas needing improvement in the workplace such as workplace culture. Now more than ever, employees are feeling less connected. Employers must consider and tend to the needs of their employees and strategize effective ways to rebuild team culture/morale to learn and grow from the disruptive times.
2. Maintain
Corporate emails just are not enough to maintain employee engagement. Personalized messages will go a long way with employees that have been furloughed. It demonstrates that your organization cares in their willingness to invest their valuable time in keeping in touch with furloughed individuals.
3. Grow
While the workforce is furloughed, it's important for employees to continue to craft and build their skillset. It's not an excuse to no longer improve themselves as an employee and an individual. It's beneficial for organizations to offer training tools and support to fuel their desire to learn so when they do come back on board, there isn’t a knowledge barrier.