Hey Managers – how are you supporting your employees during the coronavirus pandemic?
First and foremost, managers – talk to your employees! What does their life look like over the next couple weeks? How are they managing the non-stop barrage of news about the virus? Do they have elderly parents and family members at a higher risk and are they worried?
Everyone has a different opinion about the coronavirus, its severity and its impact to the community, nation and around the world, and what precautions they are taking. Talk to your employees, listen, and keep your judgments to yourself. Respect that each individual is being impacted differently and has a different point of view.
Do any of your employees have younger kids impacted by school districts closing for an extra 1 – 3 weeks (or maybe longer), including Spring Break, and not providing childcare? Many parents of children are now faced with the added stress of no school for an extended period of time, no childcare, and the need to provide in-home virtual learning all while keeping up with their normal workload. Oh, and disinfecting their house and everything they come in contact with and going store to store to buy toilet paper because they didn’t stock up on it.
Is working at home viable and can they work “off hours?” If kids are home, it may be difficult to get on calls and get work done. Can deadlines be flexed a bit? Can work still be completed outside of traditional hours?
Stay in touch with your employees who are working at home and ensure they are aware of any important updates, decisions, and changes to deadlines and priorities. Communicate your expectations and make sure priorities are set and are consistently and clearly communicated. You can still hold employees accountable for their performance. However, they need to fully understand your expectations, if different while they are working from home. And you, as their manager, need to fully understand their challenges during this time.
What if they can’t work normal full-time hours due to family needs? Are you really going to make them take Paid-Time-Off while they are forced to be home because schools and day care centers are closed? Is this how you build loyalty and be an employer of choice? What are your other options? Look at this from a different perspective and find a solution that works for both the company and the employee. Have your employee propose what works for them to still be productive and successful at work while navigating this time of uncertainty. They may have an idea you never thought of. Or, maybe there is a solution somewhere in the middle.
Now is the time for more communication, flexibility and understanding, not rigidness, judgment, and traditional, one-size-fits-all solutions.
