During furlough and beyond - start planning for the future

On Friday the Chancellor announced that the Job Retention Scheme was going to continue at least for a further month, until 30 June 2020. The Scheme was announced on 20 March so has been in place now for exactly 1 month. How many companies have furloughed some or all of their employees in the last month? Last time I checked more than 9 million workers are expected to be furloughed under the government's job retention scheme. That is according to analysis by the Resolution Foundation, using the latest figures on take-up of the scheme from the British Chambers of Commerce. That’s a huge amount of people, when you think about it, who now have their normal routine suspended!

So when "lockdown" happened you were probably just thinking short term and looking at what options were available to save your outgoings and cashflow - the Job Retention Scheme was available and work had ceased so you furloughed some employees. However now that the dust has settled a little, ask yourself honestly, when was the last time that you spoke to your employees individually since they were furloughed? Spoken not just "WhatsApp" or emailed?

Be truthful with yourself…this is the time when people will remember not what was done but how it was done. In other words how it made them feel. So ask yourself:

·       When was the last time you spoke individually to each of your furloughed employees?

·       Do you know really know how they are?

·       How are they spending their time?

·       Are they enjoying this time? Have they taken up a new hobby?

·       Are they isolating on their own? With family? Do they get on with their family?

·       Do they have money concerns? Has this situation made it worse?

·       Are they home schooling? Do they have elderly parents to look after?

·       Are they themselves sick with Covid-19? Who’s looking after them?

·       Do you know if they are anxious about being furloughed or wondering whether they’ll have a job to come back to?

During this pandemic it is a fact that everyone will have some kind of struggle; it will no doubt happen at different times, as everyone deals with change differently. So what should you as a Manager or Business Owner be doing right now? The answer is get in touch and communicate, communicate and communicate some more.

As the way people like to be communicated with is not the same for everyone, take each one of them in turn, as you know them best, and ask yourself:

·       How are they? Thriving? Coping? Struggling? What are their concerns? How are they spending their time?

If the honest answer to any of the above is you don’t know, then you need to pick up the phone and talk to them urgently. I'd recommend keeping a brief note for each person under the questions above so that you can refer back at your next conversation.

I appreciate that it is not always comfortable to have these conversations but have a go. I guarantee that something is better than nothing…don’t let them feel that they’ve been forgotten. Let them know they are missed. If you put yourself in their shoes how would you like to be treated.

There are lots of resources out there to help with conversations regarding mental health. Here is a link to one of my favourites from MIND - https://www.mind.org.uk/media/29259579/mental-health-at-work-1_tcm18-10567.pdf

How should I communicate?

The Job Retention Scheme guidance from the Government is very clear that people on furlough cannot do work but that does not in any way rule out staying connected with your employees. Think about your team and the methods of communication that work best for them - you'll probably want a mixture of both individual and group communication.

For individual communication:

• Nothing beats a 121 telephone or video call as its more personal.
• Cover some of the questions above to initially open up the conversation.
• Agree with each person how often you’ll be in touch – perhaps once a week, every 10 days etc and perhaps more regularly if you have someone who you know is struggling.
• It’s important that those who’ve been furloughed know that they are still an integral part of the team/Company. We all need each other now more than ever so maintaining relationships is key for our wellbeing.

Some suggestions for group communication:

• Set up regular group video call eg use Zoom or another video conferencing software for regular team get-togethers via video conference. Keep it social and light-hearted. This should not be a business update, although it will naturally cover how things are going informally.
• Email is great for providing a regular one-way update on what you’re up to and transmitting consistently your key messages earlier but if they are not using their work email address as they’ve been furloughed you will need to seek consent to use a personal email address.
• You could record a podcast or video message as an addition or instead of email updates. Your tone is transmitted more effectively in these mediums than with email alone.
• Create a Facebook or Whatsapp group – they are great for quick social and fun interaction but you don’t have much control over what is posted by others on it.
• Get creative and try things like virtual team lunches or tea breaks, quizzes, board game nights.
• Perhaps set up Lunch and Learns on different topics so knowledge and skills can be shared. The topics don't have to be work related - could be to discuss a hobby, interest, something someone's read etc
• Encourage people to take photos and share, celebrate volunteering or kindness activities or initiatives – this is a great antidote to negative news updates.

Regardless of whether you are communicating individually, to a group, formally or informally, remember to always:

Reassure and be honest - If you and a proportion of your team are still working, let those that are furloughed know what you've been doing, what are your priorities etc. Give all employees a sense of the future – what are your next steps, what are you working on, what’s marketing looking like, how is your industry coping etc.as you can be about the impact the Coronavirus situation is having on the Company. The aim is to update but not to scare.

and

Be consistent - cover the same key messages in your regular communications.  Set an agenda for yourself and stick to it so that you get the consistency and nothing's forgotten.

In summary, your employees are watching how you, as a Leader, prioritise and respond to this crisis. If you say your employees are your most important asset, now is the time to show it!

I keep hearing this quote from the American poet Maya Angelo at the moment - “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  It’s time to stop guessing how your employees are coping and assuming they are ok as you haven't heard otherwise. It's time to pick up the phone and make that call before it's too late and you lose your employee engagement.