How Companies Are Helping Reduce Stress For Employees
When teams went 100% remote for their first time during this Coronavirus pandemic, many assumed team stress would grow. While many teams are still feeling the heat, some have taken being home in stride and found ways to keep calm while working around family members, pets and daily life all encroaching on work-time.
It’s important for all of us to appreciate the time we have at home right now, and to get to a point where we view it as a positive, even when it can be positively stressful. We can use this time to try new hobbies, learn ways to work remote more often in the future, and explore how to best spend more time with family moving forward.
Here are some ways that companies around the world are keeping a work-life balance for their employees when each daily task seemingly molds into the next.
Implementing New Work Hours and Flexible Schedules
Many companies are showing compassion for parents who have their kids at home with them during work hours. Some of these parents are also homeschooling, and it’s going to be an exciting challenge for the whole family.
A large number of companies worldwide are offering new work hours and flexible work hours to accommodate this new family situation, which is allowing parents a unique experience with their kids that may be once in a lifetime for them. It’s important to promote the family education time as positive, and organizations offering new work hours are doing just that.
It will be interesting in the future to see if these more flexible work hours and schedules translate into new company initiatives even when we’re all back in the office.
Sharing Life Stories More Often
It’s not often that kids and family are mentioned around the water cooler at work. However, as kids, pets and spouses are making appearances during video conferences in the home office, co-workers have started to talk about their home life more openly. This is leading to more at-home experiences being shared among co-workers, and more ideas about family activities being passed around.
This is a great way for people to get new ideas for ways that they can spend time with their family, and also an exciting time to learn more about co-workers and how they like to spend their time.
Sharing Experiences And Taking Breaks
It’s important to acknowledge that we are all stressed out right now, and that’s okay. Some companies are holding optional meditation sessions for employees who want to take a minute to calm their minds and bodies. Other companies are asking their teams to take more breaks during the day when things get too hectic. Companies offering this time for employees to regroup are letting everyone know that they understand what people are going through, and that they want to help.
These organizations are also showing that it’s alright to take a few moments away from work, to meditate or complete another household task, have a workout session, or spend a relaxing minute with your family. These companies are paving the way for a new, less stressful, way of working moving forward.
