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COVID-19 has forced companies to shift the workplace to home. While remote working has been a relief for many employees, it has its own share of drawbacks.
Working in isolation has taken a huge toll on employee health- both physically and mentally. Depression and fatigue have become constant companions. As a result, employee burnout has seen a rise and productivity has taken a hit. In such circumstances, employers are looking out for ways to rejuvenate the workforce and engage them.
In this podcast, Tatiana Cirio talks about how the pandemic has severely affected employee engagement and led to stress and increased burnout. She further explains how employers can cope with the new changes and take measures accordingly.
Key Takeaways
- The pandemic split engagement in two, not down. Tatiana saw engagement rise at companies that visibly treated people as humans — safety adjustments, protection policies — and collapse at those that didn't. Remote work didn't cause the gap; it exposed whether a culture was already people-first.
- Early remote productivity was a trap. Employees initially reported getting more done without office interruptions, but the "lost" coffee chats and micro-breaks were the actual recharge mechanism. Removing them produced short-term output and long-term burnout.
- Burnout clustered in three remote profiles. Young employees living alone far from family, people with COVID illness in the household, and those supporting a spouse or parent whose income had collapsed — each of these cohorts needed a different HR response, not a blanket wellness program.
- Stress is what you can't control or fix. Tatiana's diagnostic: stress rises when employees feel unsupported and are trying to solve problems outside their scope. Transparent communication about company performance, layoffs, and direction is the cheapest stress-reduction lever HR has.
- HR cannot be everywhere remotely — so build the listening infrastructure. Regular surveys (NPS-style, burnout-specific), open team-collaboration channels (work and non-work — pets, good vibes, family pictures), and self-serve policy documentation let HR scale attention across 25+ countries without being the bottleneck.
- Hybrid fails when designed office-first. If culture still runs on in-office norms, remote staff are excluded by default. Tatiana's rule: design the workday as if everyone were fully remote, then plan the in-office days deliberately for integration — not as the baseline.
- Don't confuse control with flexibility. Mandating "three days in the office" to feel safer is not a hybrid strategy. What makes hybrid work is management practice and daily rhythms, not attendance rules.
In Tatiana's Words
On what remote work revealed about company culture
The whole pandemic made companies look at the human being — people really as humans — and take action to protect their employees. A lot of people noticed: my company is human, they care about me, they're making adjustments to keep me healthy. Companies that put people first were really recognized. Companies that couldn't, that showed too.
When you talk about remote working, you have to keep in mind there are no robots working on the other side of the computer. We are social beings. We live in communities — even remote, we are not supposed to be alone.
On the burnout cycle
At the beginning it seemed positive. People felt they could concentrate more, get things done more easily. But after some time, people were doing too much. Those moments of having a coffee, talking to someone about other things — people missed it. That's what makes the day break, what lets you recharge. People stopped recharging.
Stress comes from being worried about something you don't have control of, and something you don't know how to fix. When you try to fix everything and don't feel like you have support, that has an impact.
It's a negative cycle. Work stress leads to low engagement, and if you're not engaged, you're more stressed. The consequence of that cycle is burnout — when you get frozen and can't solve anything.
On what HR should actually build for a remote workforce
As HR, the first thing you need is a way to communicate and listen to your people. You won't be able to be with everyone. So surveys, NPS, questions about burnout, happiness, how people feel — then use that data to help managers conduct their teams properly.
We have channels that are work-related and channels that are not. A good-vibes channel, a pets channel. Every time I'm having a bad day, I just look at the pets channel and laugh at cute dogs and cats. As HR, you need to create this light environment using the tools you have.
On designing hybrid well
If people go partly back to the office and the whole culture is based on what we used to do in the office, people at home will feel excluded. They won't participate, they'll be less productive, communication won't work.
To make hybrid work, think as if you were fully remote. Consider first that everyone is home and separated — then plan very carefully the moments people will be together, so you actually use properly the time they are at the office.
Control is not really the thing that's going to make it work. It's how we do our daily management. Try to impose a lot of rules and that's not flexibility.
About the Speaker
Having 10 years of experience in Human Resources, Strategic Planning along with retention and Engagement, Tatiana Cirio is currently working as VP of People in Rocket Chat, a platform of communication and collaboration installed over 500k servers and counts over 12m users worldwide.
Here, she is the Head of People leading all HR strategies and processes.
Show Notes:
(01:07) Would you like to introduce yourself to the listeners?
(02:57) How is the workplace scenario changing post-Covid-19?
(04:07) Is Employee Engagement taking a dip during these times?
(05:51) How can employers increase employee engagement for remote working employees?
(07:03) Has remote working, and the pandemic increased workplace stress and employee burnout?
(10:21) What impact does high workplace stress have on employee performance?
(12:05) Can low employee engagement increase workplace stress and employee burnout?
(13:05) Have you experienced any of your employees getting burned out while working remotely?
(15:22) What can employers do to ensure employees are stress free and healthy during this pandemic?
(18:07) What tools can HRs use to make sure that their remote workforce is engaged and put first before everyone else?
(20:51) Do you think we would ever go back to what was before the pandemic or employers have to adjust to the current work scenario? And how do you think they will cope with that?
(23:32) Any message you would like to give to our listeners?
