Employee health always a top priority
The coronavirus pandemic has affected our lives and left many upset. This unexpected situation has called for enormous efforts of resilience, flexibility, and organization—not only on a personal and professional level, but also in the corporate field.
Now more than ever, it’s important for companies to focus on employee support as one of the key aspects in moving forward. In such times of uncertainty, employees need to have answers and updates from the company about their work situations, while also benefiting from a good balance between work, private life, and professional growth.
Ericsson's handling of the pandemic led to the company being named among the top 400 in Italy’s Best Employer 2021 and 2022 rankings, along with a prestigious position in the “Internet, IT and Telecommunications” category. Corriere della Sera published the results of the survey, in which over 12,000 employees were interviewed via an Online Access Panel and Statista, a German digital platform that collected and analyzed data from different business sectors. The independent survey asked employees to rank on a scale from one to ten, their workplace across multiple categories.
Since the beginning of the epidemiological emergency, Ericsson has constantly placed the health of its employees as top priority. An internal crisis committee has been set up to deal with new and developing needs, and to make decisions on a daily basis. In the time span of a weekend and prior to the national lockdown, Ericsson Italy allowed all its people to work from home.
Even before the pandemic, we were prepared. Smart working was already implemented, and technology had already become an increasingly important part of the workforce. In this way the company has been able to ensure its business continuity, maintaining strong customer relations and getting the job done with utmost professionalism—all thanks to our people’s adaptability and skills.
Onboarding process: the new normal
Although we were prepared, it still wasn’t easy. We had to adapt all work activities to a new, full-time remote working situation, and this included the hiring and onboarding process.
An effective introduction to new colleagues is often a good place to start since the feelings and atmosphere created during the first days are vital in fostering engagement and motivation. We’re a knowledge-based company where the expertise of our employees is our most valuable asset. So, to ensure we maintain our leading position, we must attract, develop, and retain the best talent in the industry.
Virtual interviews and remote hiring have become the new methods used to getting to know candidates, and now they are here to stay along with training videos and online learning modules. Welcoming new hires with the correct approach is also essential; introducing them to the company culture, as well as their team and the overall business priorities and objectives.
We also started scheduling informal roundtable meetings called “Meet Emanuele”. This involves meetings between our Country Manager and small groups of young new hires. This new situation wasn’t easy to get used to for anyone involved, but it was undoubtedly even more difficult for those who had to start from scratch in a new company. We completely understand that adapting to new technologies, new devices, and new ways of working, all without the immediate support of colleagues that would be available at desk next to you in the office is not an easy ask. Getting a good understanding of the broader picture can also be a challenge. So, we thought that a 30-minute video chat in the morning, over a coffee with our Country Manager and a few other young colleagues, could be a simple but effective format to achieve this.
In general, remote work doesn’t come without its challenges. Many employees working from home say they work longer hours, have challenges in work-life balance, and less time to take breaks than they might in the office. To help overcome these challenges during this extraordinary time, we’ve provided ergonomic equipment to our employees who are working from home, and encouraging them to reserve time for sharing online, not only work moments, but also the fun moments together. We’ve also provided a supporting app for employees to encourage mental relax are some of the other activities put in place during this extraordinary time.
Ericsson has always given priority to its people and to their wellbeing, doing everything possible to ensure the right balance between work and private life.
If we’ve learned anything over the past year, it’s that resiliency, adaptability, and independent problem-solving are more important than ever. We didn't have any instruction manual, but each one of us has contributed to achieving this award, and it’s all thanks to our skills, commitment, and the core values of our company.
