Culture | Firm launches Big Brother-style 'diary room'

With so many employees working remotely, it can be difficult for HR teams to keep morale high and ensure that teams are as engaged as possible. There are many areas of personal and professional life that workers are struggling to cope with.

Whether it is struggling to switch off after a day’s work, trying to educate children and keep on top of daily workloads or being cooped up indoors for the majority of the day, there are many things that people are struggling with. To help support employees through this difficult period, it is important that employers implement initiatives to help them and maintain a good company culture – even if it is remote.

During this period of lockdown – which is set to be extended by the Government until early May – employees who are working from home will be looking for a bit of light relief and a way to communicate with colleagues that isn’t just centred around work.

To give employees a separate and alternative space to connect with one another about non-work-related topics, one employer recently launched a virtual Big Brother-style ‘diary room’ to allow staff to talk to the camera about their daily lives. The ‘diary room’ concept – which is possibly the best-known feature in the TV show Big Brother– is a small room where housemates can privately talk to ‘Big Brother’ about how they are feeling and vent any frustrations about irritating contestants.