Employee turnover, home-office and engagement

We can expect that the current pandemic situation is going to change the economy, and with it the level of turnover that has been very high in the past few years. In other words, it was the voluntary turnover - when employees quit a company and seek a better work position - that was high. The reasons behind why it has been happening, and still, are numerous. Primarily, in a situation with recordly low levels of unemployment, employee bargaining power increases on the job market. They then have a better position and an array of job offers to choose from. Parallel to that, the pressure on companies increases, seeing as they are forced to motivate their employees and provide them with good working conditions to retain them. What is going to happen in the following period and what turnover changes can we expect?

High turnover = knowledge workers + home-office

Today, we can argue with certainty that an economic downturn is to come, and with that the unemployment rate will rise. A lot of service industries are already impacted, such as public catering, travel, hotel or transport ones. Throughout the month of March, unemployment rose from 3% to 3,4%, which is still very good, but we can expect an increase all the way to 4%. That said, in the USA, we are evidencing the biggest increase in unemployment rate since the 30s crisis, that of 14,7%. How will this evolution impact voluntary turnover? And is it possible that companies will not fight as much over new employees?

The answer to this question is going to vary depending on different branches of the job market and on whether we work from the office or from home. At least that is what the data given by Gartner says. Based on the statistic, we can assume that employees belonging to the category of “knowledge workers”, those that mainly have a university degree and work with their knowledge, are not going to be that impacted by voluntary turnover. There are numerous reasons for that. The main one is that there is still quite a lack of such employees and companies are going to have to keep on fighting for them. Other reasons are directly linked to the covid crisis, precisely, to the global implementation of homeworking. According to Gartner, the percentage of people working from home is going to increase, changing not only the dynamic of corporate functioning, but also the engagement of their employees. Indeed, surveys show that the relationships of homeworkers towards their organisation is weakened. It is logical, individuals working from home are often autonomous and do not need that much contact with their employer. Many companies are however faced with a time period in which they are not only going to have to endeavour to retain their employees but also change their managerial approaches towards people working from home.

How to increase the engagement of people working from home

There are a variety of existing ways that allow to raise the engagement of remote workers. Here are 4 basic rules that are good to keep in mind.

Avoid isolation

Social distance and isolation are the biggest problems when working from home. It is really important for companies to know about their people and for the HR department to perform regular checks during which they find out how people are doing at home, if they do not need anything, etc. They show interest and, above all, can prevent their people from feeling lonely at home.

Put more emphasis on the positives

When working from home and during online communication, often, only corrective feedback is given. We, therefore, draw a lot of attention to risks, mistakes, and problems. This can be demotivating for employees in the long run. Evaluation should also include an appreciation of the effort and the activity itself, that we as managers do not see, but that are actually carried out by employees at home.

Limit micromanagement

Those who have experience with working from home may also have undergone situations in which their manager constantly checks on them, calls, writes and wants to see results. This is understandable, but it is important to realise that constant micromanagement and unceasing control demotivates the employee in the long run and reduces his independence. And that is the direction in which people working from home should be guided. So, everything depends on the ability to build trust in the team and work with it in a targeted way.

Support lower-level management

From the point of view of management, working with home-office workers differs significantly from the "normal" in-office functioning. In the physical space, the manager sees what is happening around him, notices whether, based on his opinion, people are working or not, if they need support or motivation. However, it is often more difficult at a distance. It is, therefore, important to think about supporting management, developing their skills in managing people remotely and about the overall change in managerial styles. Only in this way will they be able to effectively lead people and motivate them no matter where people are.