How are you keeping employees engaged and connected while they work from home? Our clients have been sending care packages. Here are 5 work-from-home kits to send your employees during quarantine.
How are you keeping employees engaged and connected while they work from home? You see, working at the comfort of your home often causes distractions and extended working hours. Well, the reasons are obvious – your employees at home and no boss is around.
In the last few days of quarantine, we have also been reminded of life's simple delights. Our CEO Ashley Wong Tsui said today in our Zoom meeting, "Instead of rushing to Starbucks and waiting in line, I brewed my own tea at home today!" Our team has said, "I've burned through a whole jar of PF Candle Amber & Moss (our team's favorite scented candle) in 2 days. I'm going to need more!" and "I've been wearing my cozy Alternative Apparel Joggers and Sweatshirt every time I leave for my daily walk around the neighborhood." But perhaps the most common sentiment we all share is, "I'm snacking a lot more, too."
This work set-up is more complicated than the usual office work environment as it lacks physical monitoring of your staff. To keep employees who work from home motivated, our clients have been sending care packages. Here are 5 work-from-home kits to send your employees during quarantine.
Stay Cozy and Connected with Zendesk
We may be living in unprecedented times, but those of us who are healthy, safe and able to work from home feel incredibly lucky. Every one of our healthcare professionals across the world are pulling all-day and all-night shifts to care for the sick and elderly. These are the heroes and heroines who are braving the storm for us, so we can stay home, keep our distance and flatten the curve.
Also, check out our direct mail gift guide for sales and marketing teams: Direct Mail Solutions Guide
Thank you so Matcha from your Android Team
We know that a huge part of being a team is feeling a sense of collaboration, community and connection in a bustling office. We miss going out for team lunches and grabbing coffee with our work best friend. And even though such a large part of our human interaction is from the dented cushion on our couch or warm dining room chair amidst working from home, we are thankful for technologies like Slack and Zoom that allow us to still connect everyday.
Work Hard, Play Hard (Game Night Kit)
Wake up and Zoom, Zoom!
WFH or work-from-home has been an increasingly popular business practice, especially now as COVID-19 has led companies to temporarily close their offices. If you have employees working remotely because of Shelter in Place directives, sending them one of these care packages is a great motivational gesture.
Many of our customers have looked to us for curating the best kinds of WFH kits and care packages to send to their employees and clients. Our buying team has been keeping a close eye on data from our orders and may of the themes consist of an idea of 'coziness', 'warmth' and 'togetherness'. In the Zendesk gift set, they've done a great job in combining wearables with the sweatshirt, joggers and house slippers to convey coziness. The feeling of warmth can be shown in a blanket or coffee/tea set as you see in the example with Zoom and Android. Together may be one of the most important characteristics of sending a gift, as so many are feeling alone and may be struggling with mental health. Including a note in the gift set is a good way to show that your manager or CEO cares for them during this time. Below is an example of a mindfulness and wellness kit, which focuses on items for meditation, relaxation and calming down.
Mindfulness at Home
Take a Hike (the good kind) from Instagram
Whatever the corporate gift may contain, the goal in sending your employees these care packages is to show appreciate for their work, boost morale when in-person collaboration is nearly impossible and engaging with them as leaders. These gestures give them a sense of stability in their jobs, which helps with emotional and mental stability. Happy employees are the ones who stay for the long haul.
If physical gifts are not top of mind, here are some tips to keep them engaged, motivated and healthy.
Keep open communication with more frequent 1:1s if necessary.
Do they still have enough budget for their food in the next few days or weeks? Maybe, it’s time to give them their salary in advance. It gives them some sort of security because the management cares.
Send motivational quotes to your team.
Even a short email with an encouraging quote can brighten their day and lift their spirits. These quotes are a reminder of what we should all be focusing on: hope that we're all in this together and will get out of it together.
Donate to your local hospitals or COVID-19 relief funds.
Aside from helping our employees, we also want to encourage employees to give back and help flatten the curve. At Gemnote, our team has made monetary donations to organizations like Meals on Wheels, which fights senior hunger and isolation and Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization. We have donated unused N95 masks and other PPE equipment to healthcare workers because we know there's a shortage of masks and resources. We’ve even taken our kids around the block to help pull out our neighbors' weeds just in time for spring.
We know it may not be possible for everyone to assist in these ways, but we believe any service provides a bit of relief during this time. We hope everyone stays safe at home and maintains a positive outlook during these times. If you need ideas on what gifts or packages to give your employees, "Start a Project" with Gemnote here.
