Celebrating Workers During a Global Pandemic

Workers' Day is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement. While it may belong to a tradition of spring festivals, the date was chosen in 1889 for political reasons. As the world observes another year, it is imperative to remind ourselves, serving in organizations, of the importance of each employee. With that in mind, below are a few ways to acknowledge and appreciate the team that has persevered through a global pandemic which is still in our midst.

Stay in touch. A simple thank you or a work video call on the progress of a team member makes a world of difference. Whether your team is fully remote or you have multiple locations, a virtual get-together helps bring everyone together. Unity and appreciation have never failed in any crisis, and keeping up to date with many communication platforms each day may become overwhelming. Celebrate your team without causing screen fatigue or disrupting their work through brief check-ins and appreciation sessions.

Keep up to date with staff morale. According to Oxford University, happy workers are 13% more productive. Recent research into the mood of the UK has found that paid work is ranked near the bottom in terms of activities that make the population happy. As researched by Professor De Neve, there seems to be considerable room for improvement in the happiness of employees while they are at work, and payment is not the main factor in an employee's happiness.

Be relevant and understand. Amid an ongoing pandemic, household demands have increased amongst employees, and Covid-19 has taught us to appreciate life primarily. This goes hand in hand with understanding employees more than ever before, to understand the frustrations they may be going through while operating at their offices. In conclusion, may we embrace our workers during the most difficult times and embrace our frontline workers who still risk their lives to serve the organization in which they operate.