Returning to Office: Deploy Agility and Show Empathy to Steady Jitters
How to show employees that you’re proactive and you care
As the reality of COVID-19 continues beyond its sixth month, reimagining the “new normal” is a challenge faced by every business — from sole proprietors and startups to nonprofits and medium-sized and large corporations.
Never before have business leaders and the workforce experienced so much uncertainty. Unlike other crises we’ve faced, the pandemic has no defined endpoint (save a proven vaccine). Its progression is unpredictable, with virus upticks, full-blown surges, and myriad other factors causing business disruption and fears of layoffs and permanent closures.
Creating Opportunity from Uncertainty
How can companies reopen in an orderly fashion that protects employees and ensures business continuity?
Management lecturer Brad Treat of Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business sees the current environment as an opportunity, especially for companies that are agile and willing to question everything:
“The smart businesses, the good businesses, are the ones saying ‘How do we — how do we adapt? Let’s revisit everything: our operations, our business model, how we interact with our customers.’ And the companies that are doing that … are seeing some dramatic growth.”
The need to drive innovation has fueled successful collaborations between legacy companies and savvy startups — a trend highlighted in a recent article I wrote featuring thought leaders in the tool-making, payments, and insurance sectors.
“There’s no better place to be right now than in a startup,” Cornell’s Treat says. “Startups are fast-moving, they’re nimble, they react to change. And so if you’re in a startup, you should look at this as an opportunity to say ‘Okay, how are we going to innovate? How are we going to move quickly? How are we going to understand our customers’ prospective change of business model in light of this new world?’”
Treat joined other panelists on a June 29, 2020 eCornell Keynote that included the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development. Guests offered virtual guidance to businesses beginning to reopen — with a focus on startups.
Address Fear Head-On
Even if companies are aligned on mission and values, there’s still deep concern among now-remote employees who are being asked to return to the workplace and upend routines — which will now likely include rigorous entry, hygiene, and distancing protocols.
Nellie Brown is a certified industrial hygienist and director of workplace health and safety programs at Cornell’s Industrial Labor Relations School.
“Change is not easy for us as humans. We’re creatures of habit. We fall back into old habits — we’re forgetful. So we’ve got to really build new habits… remembering to do social distancing. Cleaning and disinfecting routines have to become new and really well thought out. We have to be careful about our handwashing. We have to post a lot of signage for people to remind them of where to come and go, how to group, and how far apart to stay,” Brown advises.
Leaders: Are You Listening?
Central to the success of this mission is effective, consistent communication across all stakeholder groups. Cornell lecturer Andrew Quagliata, who has a doctorate in organizational communications, says CEOs, founders, and other leaders need to deliver clear, authentic, and frequently repeated messages across multiple channels. They also need to listen closely to their employees. This is fundamental to the success of any reopening plan.
“It’s important to make an intentional effort to listen to your stakeholders. It might be as simple as just asking them. It could be through informal meetings with your employees. It could be through regular check-ins, and if you’re a larger organization and you can’t really get to all of your employees, you might do this through some short surveys. The thing to remember,” Quagliata says, “is that you probably have a message that you want to communicate, but waiting until the right time to communicate that message is important.… Your employees and customers have to be in a position where they’re ready to hear that message.”
Quagliata says one of the most important aspects of communicating during uncertain times is showing empathy. Employees, especially, need to know that you appreciate them and understand what they’re feeling. Some may want to continue working from home.
“Not everyone will be at the same phase in the cycle as everyone else,“ he says. “You might have an employee who thinks, ‘Well, we never should’ve closed to begin with. Right?’ And so they’re ready to get back and go. You may have [another] employee who’s still pretty anxious about coming back to work. So, acknowledging that too. Think about how your communication has been so far and reflect on its effectiveness.”
Since most startups (especially those in their early stages) don’t have a dedicated team of communications professionals, pulling together the leadership team and focusing efforts on getting messaging right are paramount, though hardly easy.
What If Your Team Pushes Back?
What happens if returning employees don’t agree with management’s approach to reopening? If the company is a startup, what recourse do employees have?
Health and safety director Brown says the National Labor Relations Board can offer guidance on formal organizing, though she advises employees and senior leaders to try to come together and broker compromise.
Staying safe is smart business for everyone, she says.
“Many times I’ve been able to sell an employer on a change by arguing that it cost little or nothing to do it. There is a money argument to be made here that while you’re busy protecting people, you are also managing your money very well. So I like people to get together as a meeting of minds…So we want people to act collectively and to work together. I think a meeting of minds really is the best way to do it.”
In these times of sweeping change, terms such as “reinvention,” “clean slate,” and “new start” are often used to describe what some see as an unprecedented opportunity — not only for startups, but for any business that intends to have a future.
Cornell’s Treat says it’s time to change mindsets.
“My advice is: rethink everything and be nimble, because things are going to be changing really fast, so those who adapt survive.”
View full eCornell Keynote discussion https://bit.ly/2O6VPCa
RESOURCES FOR REOPENING AND RETURNING TO WORK
Center for Regional Economic Advancement at Cornell University https://crea.cornell.edu/COVID-19-resources/
Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development https://www.nysedc.org/nys-asset/schuyler-county-ida/
OSHA Return-to-Work Guidance https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA4045.pdf
National Labor Relations Board https://www.nlrb.gov
For more on leading effectively during a pandemic, explore these articles:
CEO Communications during COVID-19: Bring the Real You: Perspective from CEOs @Accenture @Verizon @Celanese https://bit.ly/MediumCEO
Leading Organizations and Managing Yourself in Next Phase COVID-19: Insights from Marshall Goldsmith and Sydney Finkelstein https://bit.ly/LeadingMedium
Driving Innovation during COVID-19: Stay Nimble; Seek Partners: A conversation with business development and strategy leaders from @WesternUnion @MetLife and @StanleyBlkDeckr https://bit.ly/InnovMedium
