Be alert for signs of concern to your employees
Use direct conversations as well as indirect observations to see the challenges and concerns of employees. Use every opportunity to show the employees you support and care for them. To facilitate regular conversations between managers and employees, provide guidance to managers on how to best deal with situations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, including alternative work models, job security and prospects, staff impact and stress on workplace.
Promoting dialogue
Bilateral dialogue between managers and employees helps communication to be more fruitful. Employees ‘understanding and feedback on organizations’ decisions and their implications for change is far more important to the success of a change initiative than employees who “like” change.
Trust your employees
The best thing you can do as a manager now is to remove your doubt and mistrust and instill maximum confidence in your employees that they will do the right thing – which they will do if employers provide a support structure.
Reinforce organizational values
Even before this crisis, employers were increasingly treating employees as key stakeholders. During this crisis, you can tell the employees that you plan to take care of them for a long time.
Many companies have spent the past few years building a set of values that describe how much they care about their employees, and how important it is for them to create great lives and experiences for their employees. Be sure to reinforce these values with employees.
Use objectives to clarify role and tasks
Role definitions can begin to fall apart during disruption, leaving employees unsure of where to focus. Focus on what employees need to accomplish. Emphasize process objectives to create greater clarity for employees – and to lead to greater levels.
Focus on results, not processes
In the perspective of working from home, where many people are doing chores and family commitments in their homes, leadership should enable employees to do their job in ways that are easier and more productive for them.
Evaluate the input and input of your employees
During such periods, the desire of employees to be recognized for their contribution increases by about 30%. Recognizing the contribution not only motivates the recipient, but serves as a strong signal to other employees of the behaviors they should follow. Recognition does not need to be monetary; consider public appreciation, rating marks, development opportunities, and low-cost acquisition.
Encourage innovation
With businesses located at high levels of uncertainty, managers and employees can become more risk averse, there is a natural reluctance among employees to try something new, but in such times innovation is more necessary than ever.
