By: Brandon Bock

 

Beep! Beep! Beep! The first noises of the day are not ones of peace but rather ones that are demanding your attention. It’s your alarm telling you to climb out of bed and begin the workday. However, you no longer need to brush your teeth, comb your hair, or even put on pants. Instead, you immediately stroll over to your nearby desk and start analyzing the reports you asked for yesterday. What could have caused these immense, unprecedented changes in business routines? COVID-19.

The prevailing coronavirus pandemic has forced economies all over the world to adjust to a new business “normal” to help mitigate the spread. Consequently, companies have been forced to rapidly develop work-from-home policies to prevent their efficiency and profits from plummeting. This change has caused considerable confusion within some businesses because they have struggled to match their new policies with desired goals. Meanwhile, Microsoft has become the best-managed company in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.[i] In fact, they have been able to overtake Amazon by prioritizing the improvement of their corporate culture. This article will outline how companies in the US are conquering COVID-19 through improved communication, employee satisfaction, and productivity.

Communication

Communication is essential. If the employees of a company are unable to communicate with one another coherently and cohesively, the company is less likely to be successful. After evaluating the digital communications of various US companies, the Interactive Data Corporation discovered that the average number of emails received by employees has skyrocketed, and that employee usage of online participation tools has increased 943%.[ii] While it appears that this trend isn’t going away any time soon, companies can reduce the rising communication fatigue by making messages engaging for employees in the following four ways:[iii]

1. Tailoring their communication by making it personable
2. Associating their message with pertinent employees
3. Organizing the message into short, coherent ideas
4. Focusing on presenting information that is important to employees

By centering the message around the audience instead of the information, companies are able to retain the undivided attention of their employees by not being overwhelming them with uniform communications.

Not only is the quality of the content important but also the frequency of continuous communication. When interviewed about different types of communication that multinational corporations are engaged in, Julien Codorniou—vice president of Workplace—observed how over-communicating was essential for online communication since this method lacked the ability to completely express what can be communicated in person.[iv] By being vigilant in encouraging employees to constantly communicate, companies are fostering an environment that promotes the efficient spread of ideas and important information.

Employee Satisfaction

While having strong internal communication is vital for a work environment, companies will be unable to retain employees who may feel dissatisfied with work. According to a recent survey of 5,000 US households, only 45% of participants felt satisfied at work, which had declined from around 60% in 1987.[v] This percentage should immediately indicate to companies that the majority of their employees may not enjoy the work they currently do, and these feelings could likely prompt them to leave the organization. When considering how employees feel valued, here are numerous metrics that need to be considered: engagement, employee utilization, growth and career development opportunities, work-life balance, respect, and flexibility.[vi]

The single most important attribute for employees, especially millennials, is the capability for flexibility. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing all office-based employees into their homes, the capabilities of being flexible have become increasingly difficult while the lines between work and home are being erased. Companies can help eliminate this pressure by helping employees understand that quality of life doesn’t need to be sacrificed as long as the same quality of work is presented.[vii]

However, you may be asking yourself this question: why should companies focus on their employees if the primary goal of a company is to produce profits? When Alex Edmans, an advisor at Research Affiliates, examined this phenomenon, he determined that there is a positive correlation between employee satisfaction and shareholder returns.[viii] Companies willing to put employees first—even amid the challenges of the pandemic—will reap their rewards.

 

Productivity

Since the end goal of a company is to generate profits, productivity must be a fundamental focus of a business. Noting that remote work has become increasingly standardized, policy research analysts Brent Orrell and Matthew Leger compiled a list of positive attributes for productivity for both employers and employees:[ix]

Employers	Employees
Competitive Advantages in Talent Recruitment and Retention	Increased Satisfaction
Savings on Operational Costs	Greater Flexibility
Positive Environmental Impacts

 

However, employees can only be productive if they have the means to do so. In an interview with Nicholas Bloom, professor of economics at Stanford University, he exemplifies how many Americans are continuing to struggle with the shift to remote work. In particular, he stated how only 65% of Americans had the internet requirements to support workable video calls while the other 35% have such poor internet that effective communication is nearly impossible.[x] If companies take the initiative to reduce this communication disparity, employees will not only feel valued by their employers but also increase productivity throughout the organization.

 

Conclusion

Just as your alarm clock continues to go off each workday, companies must also remain diligent in encouraging effective communication, promoting employee satisfaction, and improving productivity. If companies refuse to prioritize the well-being of employees, their workers will leave for businesses that do. So unless you want your company to dwindle into obscurity, you must circulate a survey for employees to share their thoughts regarding the workplace in these three areas: communication, satisfaction, and productivity. Following this task, you should report your observations at the next management meeting to determine areas of focus for lasting success.

[i] Patrick Thomas, “The Best-Managed Companies of 2020—and how they Got that Way; Microsoft is on Top, Followed by Apple, IBM and Amazon in the Drucker Institute’s Annual Management Top 250 Ranking,” Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2020,  http://erl.lib.byu.edu/login/?url=https://www-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/newspapers/best-managed-companies-2020-how-they-got-that-way/docview/2469525545/se-2?accountid=4488.

[ii]Keith Kitani, “How Employers Can Combat COVID-19 Communication Fatigue: Two Key Approaches,” Leadership Excellence 37, no. 9 (2020): 23–26, http://search.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=147634063&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

[iii] Kitani, “COVID-19 Communication Fatigue.”

[iv] Christopher Mims, “The Work-from-Home Shift Shocked Companies—Now They’re Learning its Lessons; Tens of Millions of Americans are Working from Home and Many Will Never Go Back; Employers Scramble to Figure Out what Tools They’ll Need to Stay Productive,” Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2020, http://erl.lib.byu.edu/login/?url=https://www-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/newspapers/work-home-shift-shocked-companies-now-theyre/docview/2426710843/se-2?accountid=4488.

[v] Dave Edwards, “Turn the Job You Have Into the Job You Want,” Dave Edwards Media, last modified January 11, 2021, https://daveedwardsmedia.com/2021/01/11/turn-the-job-you-have-into-the-job-you-want/.

 

[vi] Ken Hultman, “Building a Culture of Employee Optimization,” Organization Development Journal 38, no. 2 (Summer 2020): 35–48, http://erl.lib.byu.edu/login/?url=https://www-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/scholarly-journals/building-culture-employee-optimization/docview/2399869453/se-2?accountid=4488.

[vii] Hultman, “Employee Optimization.”

[viii] Emily Zulz, “High Employee Satisfaction Linked to Better Corporate Earnings,” Think Advisor, May 6, 2019, http://erl.lib.byu.edu/login/?url=https://www-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/trade-journals/high-employee-satisfaction-linked-better/docview/2220434180/se-2?accountid=4488.

[ix] “American Enterprise Institute Report: ‘Trade-Offs of Remote Work – Building More Resilient Workplace for Post-COVID-19 World,'” Targeted News Service, November 18, 2020, http://erl.lib.byu.edu/login/?url=https://www-proquest-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/newspapers/american-enterprise-institute-report-trade-offs/docview/2461411673/se-2?accountid=4488.

[x] May Wong, “Stanford Research Provides a Snapshot of a New Working-From-Home Economy,” Stanford News, last modified June 29, 2020, https://news.stanford.edu/2020/06/29/snapshot-new-working-home-economy/.