How are your employees coping working from home?

How have your employees been coping with COVID-19 over the past months?

As we seem to be entering a second wave of the pandemic, companies are now thinking of how they will need to be working in the future.

And that will involve gauging the feelings of their valuable employees - how they think about future working in the shadow of coronavirus.

Working at home for many of us has been very productive in business and family life.

But the boss of Next, Lord Wolfson, made the point that working from home has robbed staff of the chance of spontaneous conversation and the chance to learn from each other.

So, Business West is partnering *YouBecome to help company owners measure the psychological and emotional impact of COVID-19 on their workforce to take the right actions to help businesses going forward.

This programme is called the Employee Action Initiative and available free to companies who qualify for a £3,000 government grant.

Mike Turner, managing director of *YouBecome, Business West’s partners in the project told me:

“We know that there are bubbles building with psychological issues that the COVID crisis has created.

“Everyone I speak to says there is a significant and generational challenge. You have got younger people living in flat share situations -they are often struggling with working at home.

“Many are now missing the interaction - the water cooler and those coffee machine moments.”

Every successful applicant to this joint Business West scheme will receive a uniquely focussed COVID-19 employee survey.

The survey concentrates on the four most important areas to ask your employees:

1. How have employees coped in the last five months?

2. How have the leadership team performed through the crisis.

3. How have furloughed staff coped with the experience?

4. What does the future face of work look like given our current reality?

This service is the equivalent of free for companies who are successful applicants, but you must apply within the next seven days.

For full details on the Employee Action Initiative and how to apply for a grant go to: https://www.youbecome.com/eai/business-west-chamber