By Meghan Steinberg, Steinberg HR
This summer will be one to remember. We are nearly halfway through the year, trying our hardest to project out what love will be like, personally and professionally. Since COVID-19 has commenced every week has been so drastically different, whether it be the focus, worry, or triumph.
Employees in any organization will always be number one, the most important asset. Behind every service or product, there is a human. Now more than ever leaders are preserving and nurturing the workforce by keeping the people safe and communicating the how and why. Pre-COVID-19 many HR professionals and organizations were discovering the importance of their employees bringing their whole self to work; now, more than ever, this is happening. Managers and leaders need to lead with effective communication, swift problem solving, and evident business acumen.
The landscape of the workforce, operation, and the team is changing, each industry and in each profession. It is critical more now than ever to “Cs” the Day by:
- Communicating
- Calibrating
- Collaborating
Communicating
- Communicate consistently; provide a high-level overview along with a high touch conversation and get right into the weeds. People want to see and hear what is being done more now than ever, to know how this fits into their comfortability and life situation.
- Create a list of communication styles, pre-COVID, and post-COVID; ask how, when, what, and why.
- Tweak the approach based on your workforce and current landscape.
- Meeting your employees where they are is most important to get a true understanding of the most effective approach.
- Create and disseminate an FAQ, timeline of plan, expectations.
- Understand what type of communication you will be using, Slack, Teams, Zoom, in-person, telephone, etc.
- Identify one spokesperson on written communication.
- Create a calendar and schedule for the phasing. Break it into appropriate stages, so it is simple and straight forward to understand.
- Ensure customers, vendors, partners, and guests know the organization’s plan and standards. Whether that is through video, newsletter, email, pictures, or telephone calls. Communicate how you are keeping them safe and what YOUR standard is.
- Create training and educational segments; assume nothing.
- In addition to written and verbal communication styles, use visuals, posters. It will help to reinforce the message and standards.
- Be honest, courageous, and empathetic in delivery.
Calibrating
- Because these times are so uncertain, it is critical to be nimble; fine-tuning along the way will be needed.
- Hold weekly huddles to understand what went well and what needs to be changed from based on the prior week.
- Review the future phases and changes on the horizon.
- Survey and poll your employees and customers, patients, guests about their experience.
- Identify what processes need to be changed and why.
- What was needed three weeks ago to work from home, be on-site, perform the essential functions of the job most likely will shift, so prepare for that.
- It is important to remember, no one has gone through something like this, and so long as safety is the utmost importance and process is in place, things can be revised and changed.
Collaborating
- It takes a village.
- Collaborate with related companies. Understand what others are doing and the approach.
- Create peer groups to leverage everyone’s thoughts and to understand each stage and phase of your current state.
- Determine as a team, how success and progress is measured at each stage.
- By creating a task force or committee, it will provide multi-faceted, diverse, well rounded, and thorough as plans progress. Leverage the committees to walk through processes Pre-COVID-19 and now.
- Appoint a COVID-19 Champion or Safety Champion. This person will be the gatekeeper and the one to shepherd efforts by coordinating and tracking. This appointment will help for things to be streamlined and for everyone to know who the main designee is for all COVID related questions. Note: this person is not the subject matter expert rather, the person who is gathering, collaborating, and disseminating information after aligning with the leaders of the organization.
- Establish a COVID-19 reward and recognition program for those who embrace safety measures, demonstrate excellence with colleagues and customers, go above and beyond, meet or exceed the process set-forth. Engage those employees and teams working on and off-site.
- Conduct surveys or polls to keep your finger on the pulse.
We would love to hear your perspective and focus right now. How are you communicating and leading? Email Meghan@steinberghr.com
SteinbergHR is now offering SHARED HR SERVICES
What is a Shared HR Service?
Being in operations and now a Human Resources Professional for over a decade, I have recognized the need to offer a blended HR service for companies and leaders. Not every company needs a dedicated and seasoned HR Professional or HR Consultant. What every organization needs are the tools, insight, and sounding board to make the best programs, decisions, and processes for the employee experience.
What is the value?
Organizations who invest in the Shared HR Service, providing:
- Executive-level human resource support
- A safe network to collaborate with 2-3 additional professionals from different organizations.
- Tools and content to build out the employee experience and human resource function.
Organizational Value: Strategy, Practical Tools, Action Plans, Best Practices
Individual Value: Personalized HR Support, HR/People Enrichment, One-One HR Consultation, People Competencies
Group Value: Real-Life Exchange, Leveraging Experience, Collaboration, Professional Relationship, Collective Insight
What to expect?
One person from an organization will be placed in a cohort with 2-3 other professionals. This person must be someone who is a leader within the organization and is responsible for creating employee experience in totality.
Please email Meghan@steinberghr.com to inquire and register.
