How to Keep Your Employees Focused and Motivated in 2022 Ten strategies to complete 2021 successfully and start off the new year right.
By Saurabh Kumar •
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After a shocking and challenging 2020, this past year offered some avenues for recovery. Organizations in all major industries switched to automated and digitized platforms to streamline their business processes. But the pandemic also made businesses realize the importance of engaging employees. And looking at emerging technological trends, it's safe to say that companies will need their workers to give 100% in the years to come to continue adapting and thriving.
Here are 10 essential tips for keeping your employees focused and motivated in 2022.
1. Stay in touch with everyone
Even as offices reopen and organizations get back to physical workspaces, a complete return to the way things were remains out of sight. This has given rise to a hybrid model of working and requires managers and leaders to constantly stay in touch with all their employees, irrespective of where they're working from.
Always make sure that you're in regular social contact with your team during and beyond work hours. Especially in the case of remote employees, this makes them feel valued and seen. It also allows you to keep track of their progress across departments.
Related: Top 10 Changes Your Business Needs to Be Ready for in 2022
2. Be flexible with end-of-year objectives
Annual objectives are often highly stressful for employees dealing with a high workload, and particularly if your business is recovering from pandemic-related disruptions. In such cases, it's advisable to adjust the objectives that can wait until the first quarter of 2022. When you lift a little load off your employees' shoulders and give them enough breathing room, they are likely to feel more motivated towards the tasks at hand.
3. Be transparent In communication
Whether you are undertaking changes in management or making an important announcement, always make sure that team leaders are unambiguous in their statements, especially in a hybrid organization. A chaotic work environment is bound to bring down the focus and engagement of your employees.
4. Provide personalized employee support
Gone are the days when organizations implemented traditional service desks to provide employee support. In 2022, make sure you shift to more advanced and automated tools. Modern service desks are powered by AI and provide employee support within a few seconds.
Suppose you have relevant data fed into your knowledge base. In that case, chatbots and other virtual assistants process the issues raised by your employees, scan the knowledge base and return almost immediately with personalized answers.
Moreover, AI-powered employee service desks update archane manual-ticketing systems to allow your employees to create, track and close support concerns with a few simple clicks.
5. Start making plans for the following year
It's always essential to start planning for the coming year before the current one ends. This helps you provide your employees with a sense of direction and expected objectives. With a full-proof plan in place, you won't enter 2022 confused and clueless.
The pandemic has taught us how things can go awry seemingly overnight. Companies must prepare for the worst and ensure that their functionality is not hampered due to unforeseen circumstances.
6. Encourage the use of collaborative platforms
Platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Slack have helped employees worldwide communicate and collaborate with their peers and managers. Even if the urgency of the pandemic subsides, it's still advisable to encourage installation of collaborative platforms heading into 2022. You can further leverage their performance by integrating a modern service desk with the same tools, enabling your employees to seek personalized answers to their questions without leaving their preferred platform.
7. Be honest about assigning projects
Managers often make the mistake of sugarcoating unpleasant projects before assigning them, but this strategy can easily backfire, leading to employees losing focus and motivation altogether.
As you enter 2022, make sure that you're direct and honest about the tasks assigned to your employees. If you assign them projects that might be complicated or unpleasant, always be transparent beforehand. This way, they can be prepared them for what's coming their way and equip themselves accordingly.
8. Provide regular feedback
These days, most workers welcome constructive criticism and honest feedback that inspires introspection and effective changes to their approach. This will also help you keep track of your employees' progress over time and help them improve their skills for better productivity.
9. Focus on creativity
Whether you're in advertising industry or run an IT company, always encourage your employees to be creative in their approach. It's imperative to break away from the traditional modes of operating, and more creativity helps your organization stand out from pack.
10. Counsel your employees
Catering to the mental well-being of your employees is as vital as ensuring that they are physically sound. It's always advisable to provide your team with regular counselling, allowing them to share the issues they face in their professional and personal lives.
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These were only some of the most critical ways to keep your employees focused and motivated heading into 2022, and are certain to help you build healthy relationships with your employees and start the new year on a high note.
