From a communications perspective, 2021 is already seeing an enhanced focus on all things ESG. There is no hiding from ESG, it is front and centre to how a company positions itself and acts. This includes a company’s environmental credentials, its role in society and as a good employer, and the strength of its governance.
In the first part of our series on ESG, we take a brief look at the ‘S’, the social factor and the importance of employee welfare, which has never been more important.
Today, companies are expected to proactively go out of their way to look after employees. It is what marks them out as a good company. Such actions not only encompass work safety and welfare aspects, both key elements in this mid-Covid work environment, but also helps employees succeed in today’s world; a world in which all too often employees feel isolated.
With remote working now the norm for many, employees must be made to feel that they are part of an organisation. They need to feel valued. To achieve this, employers have a responsibility to:
Nurture and to connect with their employees.
Understand how their employees are coping and their state-of-mind.
While employees need to:
Appreciate the corporate goal.
Understand what their role is in achieving that goal, and know what is going on around them, rather than operating in a vacuum.
Although these are all executive-led initiatives, the responsibility for the implementation lies squarely in the hands of the HR, Communications and Marketing teams. Employee welfare or wellbeing, especially in Covid, has never been more important. It is about going beyond the expected.
From the outside looking in, employees may appear happy, they are doing their work, and a company is successful.
So, what do employees actually feel, how are they coping and what will be the long-term results of Covid? This is more difficult to calculate. With cases of stress, anxiety and depression all shooting up, it is imperative employers are on top of it.
The only real way to gauge your employees’ mental state is by having real insight into their lives through open dialogue. Not too long ago, we talked about water cooler welfare; but with this still missing, and unlikely to return to previous levels, you cannot just stick a finger in the air.
To have a real understanding of what is going on, companies need to be constantly engaging with their employees on a regular basis and this cannot just be about business matters. There needs to be regular feedback loops built into a company’s communications backbone. These could be surveys or polling tools that are part of an intranet policy.
Ultimately you need to be doing more than just sending out top-down executive missives as your engagement. Instead, you need to get into the weeds. It is about creating all-encompassing employee-focused engagement programmes. These should be built into the monthly calendar of events and although fronted by the executive, the real work needs to be done down the chain of command, through the line managers.
Given current circumstances, most companies are having to adapt as they go along. So, find a way to be in touch. Run team events, some large, some small, all of which can be conducted remotely. Look at running mindfulness workshops, webinars and providing new employee accessible resources. Focus on strengthening employee knowledge, build interaction, help them develop new skills, and enhance greater trust and relationships between the workforce and the management.