Leadership communication with your team during the COVID-19 crisis.
For those still working during the COVID-19 pandemic accepting the possibility of contracting the disease, I thank you and appreciate you for your service. This message is for those leading a workforce of committed employees. In other words, the management team of any company or organization classified as essential to the public.
First and foremost, without these committed employees, your organization is not serving your customers and without customers your business will cease to exist. The leadership team made a decision to operate during this pandemic and must take safety precautions above and beyond the standard company and government safety procedures and policies that you find on a company’s website, displayed on a monitor or wall within the company’s facilities, or an employee handbook. Safety is a mindset and it must be communicated in a way that it’s a core component of a company’s culture. It’s more than a slogan or a phrase and many companies assert safety is a priority. However, when employees are surveyed about their leadership team focus on safety, most respondents indicate the management team cares about profitability and producing a product/service.
During this crisis management teams have adopted and implemented the COVID-19 safety protocol such as enforcing social distancing, wearing a mask, and consistent cleaning of its facilities. These are unprecedented times and there is no playbook per se to handle a pandemic such as this one. I expect the management teams working during this crisis to hold everyone accountable to reduce the possibility of contracting COVID-19 and to reduce the anxiety many employees working in service industries such as fast food, retail, and shipping companies.
When there is so much uncertainty surrounding a cure or a cessation of the number of COVID-19 cases and a business environment worse than the 2008 financial crisis, I suggest leadership teams operating a essential business adopt strategies to mitigate the anxiety of its employees in an effort to make all safer and engaged while at work. I suggest the following actions or communication points to Practice: •mutual accountability •servant leadership •empathy •clear and consistent communication •addressing the employees needs with a sense of urgency
Let’s make it a priority to serve while leading during this crisis; Your employees need support!
