Chief People Officer for Fuze, championing a culture of innovation and designing strategies to attract, develop, engage and retain talent.
getty
The year 2020 was challenging on many fronts. The different social, political and global crises throughout the year created unrest or anxiety in many of us, provoking difficult and challenging conversations in the workplace. From the Covid-19 pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement, numerous groups have been impacted and may be struggling with burnout, anxiety, fear, depression or productivity loss. These new realities have the potential to shake employee engagement to the core in 2021 and beyond.
As HR leaders, we have the responsibility to address these conversations head-on if these issues affect our employees, customers or communities as a whole. We need to realize and embrace that what happens in one aspect of our lives impacts all others. Mental health in the workplace can have a significant impact on a company’s performance. A report by the World Health Organization estimates that depression and anxiety disorders cost the global economy $1 trillion each year in lost productivity.
Get Courageous And Lead With Empathy
Research has shown that managers are typically uncomfortable giving negative feedback to employees. But HR and business leaders have the choice to lead and drive these difficult conversations for their organizations. To do that well, we must be willing to be uncomfortable and vulnerable. It’s about being honest, direct and objective. Here’s a model for mastering difficult conversations, no matter the topic.
• Stabilize
As soon as an event or incident occurs, take stock of who within your employee base is affected. Is it a certain group or region? Rather than start with a companywide meeting or communication, it is important to address and work with the employees who are most affected or feeling the most pain. In remote settings, this is even more challenging because you can’t necessarily walk around the office to get a read on what’s happening. Your employees may be feeling even more isolated. You should do an assessment to see if your employees feel safe and are OK. Reach out to the groups you think are impacted. Create a safe space and ask how your employees are feeling and what they are doing to ensure their mental and physical well-being. If there are immediate things that you can put into action based on the feedback, do what you can to help minimize that stress.
Whether employees were affected by Covid-19 or the racial injustice in America, we realized we had to quickly engage the employees who were directly impacted, provide a forum to check in and make sure they are safe and supported. We wanted to show that we understood the pain and challenges and that we could ensure a safe workspace where we educated each other on resources and how to support one another through these difficult times. In some cases, that meant bringing in outside experts, such as a trauma specialist, who could directly help our Black employees, organizing a wellness program with the help of wellness and financial experts, sharing internal resources and other forums. We always started with the impacted group first to ensure they felt safe and supported at work. Once we had some stability there, we held an additional companywide meeting to continue the conversation broadly.
• Listen And Assess
Once there is some stability, it is important to bring the group together and open a dialogue for additional feedback and information. Organize a meeting so that employees can talk with one another and share their experiences. This can be facilitated in one-on-one video meetings, in small group meetings, in virtual roundtable discussions and eventually through engagement surveys. Based on the nature of the issue, it may be best to start with a more personal approach like smaller conversations versus a broad survey.
It is important for HR and business leaders to remember that, at this stage, the most beneficial thing you can do is just listen. Take a step back and really listen to the feedback your employees are sharing about their challenges and concerns. In this meeting, ask what they need and what the organization could be doing differently to provide a better experience. The goal is to build an understanding of what is needed right now rather than answer questions or provide solutions. You may need to seek outside help to get what your employees need and that’s OK.
• Determine How To Help
Next, you’ll want to figure out what can be done quickly to address the gap in needs across your workforce. Is it training, education, more communication, a different type of communication, a change in benefits, a change in policy, etc.? Start by developing a broad communication plan that is transparent and specific to ensure the full employee base is informed. When you can, provide internal and external resources to educate and support all employees. If you are able to grant flexible working time, give your employees the opportunity to take some personal time if they need to in order to remain productive.
• Plan For The Future
After all of the feedback is heard, gathered and analyzed, HR leaders should shift focus to making the necessary changes needed in their organizations. Determine which corporate policies need to change or be created to help address the concerns and challenges highlighted by your employees and communicate that back out. Some examples of policy changes related to the crises of 2020 could include a formal flexible or remote work policy, changes to your business continuity plan or new policies to ensure greater diversity, equity and inclusion practices across the company. That long-term change should be built into the overall business model and the necessary budget should be allocated or reallocated from another area to support your new plan long-term.
Last year was challenging and turbulent in many regards. By focusing on mastering these difficult conversations, HR leaders can take a step forward in leading and helping others through crisis rather than being a bystander in their response.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
