"Checking in regarding Ukraine"

I shared some of the following with Benton County staff regarding Ukraine in an all-staff email. I hope this might help some of you all as you engage with your teams. Some information is omitted since it's organization specific. Personalize your message, check in with HR and your leadership team, and of course, take care of your own needs as well. I hope all Ukrainians and their loved ones have safety, peace, and community. This post is public, feel free to share.

Hello everyone,

Current events emails are always challenging to write. All morning I have thought “Do I send something about Ukraine? What do I even have to say?”

But then I thought about the fact that if I am struggling to say something other employees are likely feeling the same way.

First I’d like to express deep condolences and support for anyone Ukrainian or those with family, friends, or other connections with Ukraine. I cannot even imagine the mental toll war can have on you and your communities. I extend this support to those with loved ones and connections with Russia and surrounding territories as well. As we know, the actions of political leaders rarely represent the entire population. I know there are many different voices and opinions regarding the war, I encourage everyone to practice empathy as we engage with the news and remember these are individuals and their communities being impacted. I also extend support for anyone connected with United States military members who are being deployed throughout Europe. War hurts everyone, and we may not even realize how it is impacting us until later.

You may be wondering why everyone is getting an email about something that may not affect all of us. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion don’t just involve our local community. The events in Ukraine are going to have global impacts that are difficult to predict or understand. I am not expecting any of us to know what to do at this moment, but I hope to provide some general advice on how we can support each other.

1. Check in with each other

???????Supervisors I recommend check-ins with your employees. And employees to check in with your peers. You likely dot this already in your day-to-day work, but I think it’ll be critical in the next few weeks. Even if we are not actively engaged with the news, we will all be impacted by current events. This may result in a lack of focus, fatigue, anxiety, and other mental health issues. People may not choose to share anything and there should be no pressure to do so, but even just a chance to talk about it can help people feel better. We often carry these issues silently or confide with friends or family. But we carry these issues with us to work, and many of us work with community members who will be impacted by the news as well. Creating a space, even just for a few minutes, to express how we are feeling can make a huge difference. You can set content parameters, such as not discussing personal political views or specific stats, while still offering care and support as we navigate this together. I’d encourage both one-on-one and group check-ins, allowing your team to know how everyone is doing while also giving time for individual conversations.

???????Please remember it is likely you and your team may not be able to perform at your usual 100%. This war on top of the pandemic and other local and national news is a lot to deal with. Where possible, I encourage staff to provide flexibility and grace where needed so we can care for ourselves and our teams holistically. Extending a deadline or spending 10 extra minutes in a meeting to check in can help someone feel supported. Please ask for help if you are needing it. I’d hate for any of you to become burnt out because you didn’t get a chance to process how you are being impacted.

2. Use EAP and other resources

This section provided Benton County-specific Employee Assistance Program resources.

3. Stay informed but set limits

With critical international news, it can be tempting to stay engaged with social media, new channels, or other information systems as much as possible. While I encourage you all to still have critical news alerts in case of an emergency, I think we should be careful with how much information we are taking in at once. My partner and I have a no news after 10 pm rule, I have a friend who only checks news apps once a day and another friend who always goes on a walk after engaging with the news so they can process it. Find whatever works for you, your family, and your team. Take breaks with you need to, that way you can sustain yourself.

4. Group Discussion

This section provided details about an upcoming open discussion about current events, including what is going on in Ukraine. This event was already scheduled, but a new event may be added based on the feedback I get.

This email isn’t meant to be a catch-all solution. But it’s the first step of support. I also know there are other current events both locally and worldwide that may be on our minds as well such as violence in Portland this past weekend at a Black Lives Matter Rally and anti-LGBTQ+ bills and legislative action in Texas and Florida. While we may not directly feel these issues, I encourage us all to remember this Martin Luther King Jr quote:

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

So whether you are affected directly or indirectly by the invasion of Ukraine and other events, I send my support to you all. Please reach out if you have any questions or want to process.

In Solidarity,

JoeHahn