LMA recently teamed up with OpenBlend to host our latest webinar, How to Rebuild Culture after Furlough, covering three main sub-themes:
Engaging and motivating people after furlough
Managing working from home after lockdown has ended
Managing the disparity of furloughed and non-furloughed staff
The panellists included Anna Rasmussen, CEO of OpenBlend, Nicola Forbes-Taylor, Leadership Consultant at NFT Consulting and Alex Mecklenburg, Creative Business Consultant and Co-Founder of Truth & Spectacle. With attendees asked to submit related questions prior to the webinar, the panellists were joined by more than 70 leading HR and industry experts.
Main Takeaways:
Engaging and Motivating People after Furlough
Firstly, it is important to remember that each and every employee will have had a different experience of furlough; and it will have impacted everyone, not just those who have been furloughed themselves. You should acknowledge the unique experience of each employee, and build support around it, maintaining a strong empathetic nature. A tip given by one of the webinar panellists was to “ask less and listen more”. When considering how to engage and motivate employees after furlough, go back to your roots; keep in mind your vision and purpose, your mission and values as a business, and follow suit. This will help you to build upon the culture you had prior to furlough, and improve it.
Managing Working from Home after Lockdown has ended
Working from home (WFH) for many businesses has previously not been a normal workplace infrastructure, meaning that how to manage WFH was a hot topic during the webinar. With businesses now operating through entirely remote workforces, it is important to reassess processes and structures to suit. The three main challenges that businesses face regarding remote working are trust, infrastructure and the ability of managers.
When it comes to trust, you should recognise that flexibility will have a significant impact; for example, you should acknowledge and understand that many parents are now facing working from home, in a completely unfamiliar work environment, while having to home school and attend to their children. Allowing some flexibility in working hours will negate the need for employees to worry, hide huge aspects of their daily lives, or become dishonest. In terms of infrastructure, you should ensure that your employees are equipped with the necessary technology, and as best environment as possible, in order to do their job. The same importance lies with equipping managers with the skills and capabilities that they need to manage their teams through and following furlough.
Managing the Disparity between Furloughed and Non-Furloughed Employees
A phrase used and praised by our panellist during the webinar is that “we are all going through the same storm, but not in the same boat”. Each individual employee will have a unique experience when it comes to furlough, and be that relieved or resented, there will undoubtedly be a huge variance between the perception of furlough from your staff. Therefore, managing the disparity between employees should not be approached with a “one size fits all” attitude. In order to best support their team members, managers at all levels will need to consider their approach both on a team-wide and individual basis; leading the group, while responding individually to their reports.
We conducted a short survey following the webinar, in order to gain feedback, to which we received an overwhelmingly positive response. Nearly 90% of participants rated themselves as satisfied or very satisfied with the webinar, while all participants either agreed or strongly agreed that the information presented was useful and that the speakers were engaging and knowledgeable.
Just some of the comments we received following the webinar include:
“I really enjoyed how the information was presented and how knowledgeable the speakers were but made you feel at ease, very charismatic. The information was really useful and provided in an easy to understand bitesize format.”
“Speakers monitored and facilitated questions well and promoted conversation versus being talked to about the topics.”
“I enjoyed the seminar - thank you. I like interaction on a seminar which can sometimes be difficult to achieve.”
LMA would like to thank the panellists and all that attended and submitted their questions. We are glad that so many attendees found the webinar useful, thought provoking and gained valuable takeaways. Everyone is experiencing this journey in different ways and there is not a quick and easy solution. However, we hope that you are now more prepared for the re-emergence of business as we navigate through to the new normal.
If you missed the webinar, and would like to receive a recording, please email alex.wade@lmarecruitment.com or call us on 020 7246 1976.
Stay tuned for follow-up webinars coming very soon!