Let employees weigh in

• The challenge: Whether your workplace allows remote or hybrid work, your employees likely have differing expectations about where they prefer to work.
• The solution: Surveying employees about their preferences for work can help you better understand their needs (and concerns). Be it working from home, returning to the office or implementing a hybrid schedule, you can show your commitment to prioritizing employee happiness and wellbeing as you plan for the future through anonymous surveys or in-person check-ins.

Avoid employee burnout

• The challenge: Every business has constraints — you may have limited capacity for granting time off, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have options.
• The solution: The average check-in is no longer just a chance to review business hurdles and needs. Consider setting aside time weekly or monthly to actively listen to the needs of your employees. To alleviate stress try setting a mandatory break schedule, or think about offering a few extra days off or an alternative schedule. 

Embrace empathy in your daily routine

• The challenge: Being a strong leader can look different depending on your business, but employees who feel distant from their managers can shut down or suppress frustration, potentially leading to burnout and reduced productivity.
• The solution: Sharing your struggles and resiliency in an authentic way can allow your employees to share their own experiences. Giving people the platform to discuss their worries and concerns and share their needs can help you form a stronger bond. Honoring personal milestones and sharing your own experience can reinforce the culture of camaraderie on your team. Loyalty is cultivated in these moments where genuine empathy is extended.

Looking for more? Check out: New Research: Work Wellbeing Is Good for People — And Profits

3 Ways to Reinvent Your Hiring Strategy

Every entrepreneur knows it takes courage to build an authentic business, stay true to your core values and support your employees. Here are some tips for hiring in the here and now. 

1. Consider the possibilities 

Adjusting to a fully or partially remote workplace has opened the door for a new way of working. This is something to consider when it comes to attracting talent. Depending on where you’re located, your offer might be more attractive if you’re willing to let someone work remotely. Some occupations lend themselves to being fully remote, or flex working allowing you to recruit from a much broader pool of candidates. 

2. Use virtual hiring to your benefit

Video calls are becoming more common when hiring. Unlike the average meeting, screening candidates and conducting interviews is a unique experience. Indeed provides a solution that can support candidate management and allow you to easily connect and take notes in one place. The goal is to simplify the process of scheduling, connecting and providing you with templated questions that make interviewing easier.  Learn more about our virtual hiring solution.

3. Open up your talent pool 

Is your company launching new projects? Are you shifting to serve demand?  Are you known for your culture of inclusivity? Candidates who are looking for forward-thinking companies may be intrigued by your entrepreneurial spirit or their opportunity to help shape the company culture. Be sure to highlight the traits that make your company unique. At a time when a number of companies are in maintenance mode or have paused hiring, workers entering the market or passively looking might be more open to hearing from those who can enable them to make a move. 

Looking forward

We become stronger and more resilient when we work together and practice empathy and acceptance in the workplace. We’ve outlined a few ways to find motivation right now. 

Get creative

We often talk about creativity as if it’s an innate quality: You have it, or you don’t. We think that creative innovations, whether technological, artistic or scientific, only come to the chosen people in moments of inspiration, and the rest of us are out of luck. But is this true? 

Entrepreneur and author Allen Gannett says otherwise. In his “The Creative Curve: How to Come Up with the Right Idea at the Right Time,” Gannett argues that, given the right tools and knowledge, we can all learn creativity — as well as when the time is right to share our ideas with the world. Check out our interview with Gannett to learn how creativity can be fostered individually and at work to inspire innovation. 

Embrace Change

How do you effect change? Luvvie Ajayi Jones‘ inspiring journey to “being the domino” has motivated us to follow suit and make change happen. Learn more about facing fear and actively pursuing what fulfills you by watching her TED talk.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable with Luvvie Ajayi Jones