MANAGING EMPLOYEES IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19
MANAGING EMPLOYEES IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19
Marick F. Masters*
March 28, 2020
The nation is gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought much of the economy to a grinding halt, forcing millions out of work. Each American bears a responsibility to get us through this crisis. Organization leaders, business owners, and managers in particular bear a heavy duty to set a tone of confidence, caring, and optimism.
Throughout human history, episodes of pandemics have cost massive losses of life and economic security. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the pandemic of 1918 cost 675,000 American lives; the influenza of 1957-58 caused 116,000 deaths; the 1968 outbreak led to 100,000 dead; and the 2009 influenza resulted in 12,500 lost lives. In a sense, we are fortunate today with the means of instantaneous communications to implement widespread social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. But shutdowns come with enormous economic cost.
Leaders and managers occupy a special position in society to guide millions of employees and their families through these extraordinary times. Based on decades of experience, study, and consulting in the field of management, I offer a few thoughts to put into practice. How well organizations manage their employees, including those laid off and working remotely, will determine how quickly we bounce back when the virus is brought under control. Each of us may learn, grow, and change for the better while we deal with the daily hardship.
TEN MANAGEMENT TIPS
1. Let your employees, including those laid off, know how much you value their work and care for them and their families, especially those who have contracted the virus;
2. Communicate with employees regularly, providing notices on how they can get help;
3. Treat employees compassionately and equitably; no grandstanding;
4. Avoid saturating employees with pointless emails;
5. Set policies clearly after appropriate consultation;
6. Give people hope that things will return to normal and steps will be taken to bring the laid off back to work;
7. Encourage employees to stay in touch with each other by forming virtual teams across organizational ranks and functions;
8. Use technology to mitigate the hardships of social distancing;
9. Encourage employees to invent ways of generating revenue through online transactions; improving workplace communications on an ongoing basis; and meeting unanticipated customer needs that surface in this unparalleled experience; and
10. Learn lessons from this experience on how the workplace can be made better.
In universities, for example, we have an opportunity to learn more about how to deliver online education effectively, thereby enabling us to realize its potential as a mode of quality instruction. We may also appreciate the benefits of telecommuting and rethink the way we organize work in the future. Each of us has a choice to make. We can lament our forced isolation or turn it into a way to make things better. Ironically, social distancing may bring us closer together to see how dependent we are one another. Daily acts of thoughtfulness, compassion, and creativity can enable us achieve a better future. Our society is only as strong as we are as individuals.
*Marick F. Masters is a Professor of Business at Wayne State University. He also a senior partner in the consulting firm of AIM (Albright, Irr, and Masters), New London, CT. [email protected].