Over the past few months, for employees whose responsibilities can be carried out remotely, working from home has long-since become the “new normal.”
Like other businesses, many firms have had to adapt in order to keep functioning. Managing partners need to consider the impact of lockdown on a whole range of things, of which employee engagement should be one.
The value of face-to-face interaction
The daily social interactions of working life can play a major role in an individual’s sense of belonging at their firm. Connections like workplace friendships are significant drivers of employee engagement. According to research by Gallup, employees with best friends at work are more than twice as likely to be engaged in their role. Being able to have a face-to-face conversation with someone also makes it much easier to collaborate effectively.
Even before lockdown and the so-called “new normal” prevented a firm’s staff from working side-by-side, the legal sector has had its share of engagement. Research by Aon, highlighted in their The State of Partner and Employee Engagement in the Legal Sector 2018 report, found that just over half of law firm employees were engaged with their organisations. This lack of engagement is most prevalent at the middle of a firm’s hierarchy, as other research shows that associates are the members of firms most often struggling with engagement.
How isolation can impact mental health
The impact of lockdown on employee engagement can be explained largely in terms of social wellbeing and mental health. Human beings are social creatures, and lockdown has taken a toll on us all. Extended periods of social isolation can cause your employee’s mental wellbeing to decline over time. It’s no surprise that the legal sector’s now-remote employees may be struggling to stay engaged, given how isolation is affecting the public’s mental health.
The effects of prolonged social isolation include depression, cognitive decline, and an inability to sleep. This can even impact physical health to the point that extensive social isolation can increase mortality rates. The casual social interactions that a firm’s employees take part in every day are likely to have an impact on someone’s sense of social connection. The sudden absence of these interactions can really make you realise how important they are.
Conveyancing firms with staff working remotely during lockdown need to make sure that these employees have access to online counselling and other mental health resources.
How firms can connect with their employees remotely
If you’re used to managing your conveyancers in person, switching to a remote management style can really take some getting used to. Remote workers can really stand to benefit from emulating face-to-face interaction with video conferencing. While there’s any number of tools a remote worker might find useful, we would especially recommend Microsoft Teams. Weekly10 is the leading employee engagement platform on Teams, and all of our services can be accessed through our third party application on its store.
Teams has a good balance of asynchronous messaging and easy, dependable video communication. Having regular video stand-ups with your remote team during lockdown can really make a difference. It gives your team members a routine to fall into, as well as giving them that all-important sense of social connection.
And while professionalism in meetings is certainly important (especially if the firm’s clients are involved), regular stand-ups tend to just involve your immediate team members. With that in mind, it’s worth allowing a bit of time for small-talk. Letting everyone catch up before you dive into the meeting agenda is a small but noticeable difference that can stop really help your team to maintain a bond regardless of distance.
So remember to communicate consistently, and if someone in your firm is struggling during lockdown, the best way to help them to manage their wellbeing and stay engaged is to take an empathetic approach.
This article was submitted to be published by Weekly 10 as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
