Written by Andrew Lourdes
Criminal Defense Lawyer and Life Coach
These unprecedented times can bring about fear and anxiety, testing the leadership of an organisation. It’s in times of crisis when employee engagement is necessary to keep a workplace thriving.
The reality is, businesses can’t simply stop operating because of the coronavirus and remote work for many is not a possibility.It is impossible to build cars working from home.As law offices, financial services firms, and tech companies close their doors and require employees to “work from home,” manufacturers face the reality that manufacturing requires employees to work on site. There is no factory production work from home.
Morale is rapidly declining as many fear for their lives. In addition, they’re overwhelmed with the change to their normal routine.
The choice given is either we quit and accept the new normal after the MCO or fight to live the normal life and not an abnormal life.This is where employees look to their leaders and model their behavior especially in times of crisis.It’s crucial that leaders don’t get sucked into the panic and in order to do so:
- Leaders should provide education about prevention, managing risk, and what is expected of employees .
- Leaders should host team meetings at least once per week so that there is face-to-face contact.
- Leaders should be empathetic, understanding and flexible as workers try to navigate the unexpected changes to their lives.Otherwise leaders risk productivity, morale and engagement to deteriorate due to employees growing resentful for leaders not caring about what they’re going through.
- Leaders must understand their contractual obligations to their employees under the laws of the country, especially where immediate changes need to be implemented to maximize employee engagement and better ensure continuity of operations (and jobs and wages). “Comply now, grieve later” is a cardinal principle that may need to be relied on to get through this crisis with employee engagement and the business preserved.
This can be achieved if among others Leaders also take the initiative to attend public seminars on relevant topics conducted by us or any other reputable training companies in order for Leaders to train employees on self-responsibility behaviors
There is no standard solution during a pandemic. Many of these observations may be obvious to some, but hopefully our ideas will be useful and prompt leaders to become even more creative.