Strengthening Workplace Bonds: How Can We Connect Better Beyond Virtual Events?

Due to the pandemic, employees have been working virtually for almost a year, supporting home offices. The topic of relationships between one another seems to be weakening day by day. Apart from virtual events, what more ideas can we adopt to strategize in bonding relationships with one another and across departments, especially now since digitally they are not connecting as well as they used to in the office or at their desks?

Dear Kgalok,

There are merits and demerits of working from home or working virtually. However, what is observed is that many employees complain that their work time has increased as they have started working from home. Therefore, the first thing that needs to be looked into is how much time they spend in front of the screen. If it is more than eight hours, then no employee would like to spend additional time establishing a personal connection of any kind. Employees' preferences will always be for their family.

Against this backdrop, I recommend allocating a certain 1-2 hours per week for non-work discussion or engagement. The second suggestion is to have a weekend get-together at some mall or any other place. However, with the surge of the second wave of COVID-19, this option is not advisable.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Challenges of Employee Engagement in Virtual Work

Employee engagement has been a challenge for the HR team while functioning virtually. While working from the office, functioning from one platform assisted in building a bond as there was no communication gap. On the flip side, while functioning virtually, an employee isolates themselves with assigned tasks, leaving less room to communicate.

Solutions for Virtual Employee Engagement

The only measure to deal with such a situation is HR software or employee engagement software. An HR professional can plan activities online and assign projects that require cross-team collaboration to develop bonds. As an HR professional, I have utilized features such as moodbots, chatbots, and badges to increase communication. Badges awarded to each other motivate employees to invest more effort in building relationships.