Mutual Trust and Confidence During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Malaysia is now weathering challenging times, full of uncertainty and anxiety. Since the Movement Control Order was imposed by the Government, business-owners are forced to face a Leviathan they have never seen before: a monster of a pandemic that is syphoning lives and pushing businesses closer and closer to the Slough of Despond.

As a result, many are now making key decisions on a reactionary basis. In a desperate attempt to salvage whatever they can from the remnants of their devastated business, they have resorted to summarily terminating employees through text messaging, sending emails or making calls coercing employees to agree to a salary reduction, and other forms of so-called cost-cutting measures at the expense of the people.

To a certain extent this is understandable. Man would clutch at a strand of hair in an attempt to keep from drowning. This situation, however, should not be allowed remain at status quo. Employers must remember that the decisions you make during these tough times will determine your employer branding when things resume to normalcy (which they will). And also, some of the measures may tantamount to unfair labour practices.

Where retrenchment or salary reduction has become inevitable, perhaps employers can put some heart into the decision. They should come back to the very core of the employer-employee relationship – the heart of the employment contract – which is mutual trust and confidence.

What is mutual trust and confidence?

Merely signing on the dotted line in an offer letter does not make one half of an employment relationship. Remember that parties to an employment contract subscribe to another form of contract that contains legally-binding terms which are not visible to the naked eye, called the psychological contract. The latter contract is where mutual trust and confidence lies.

In the English case of Woods v WM Car Services Peterborough Limited [1981] ICR 666 the Employment Appeal Tribunal stated that: “It is clearly established that there is implied in a contract of employment a term that employers will not, without reasonable and proper cause, conduct themselves in a manner calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage the relationship of confidence or trust between employer and employee”.

Trust in employers is trust in leadership. Trust impacts profits. So whether your business is forced to part ways with your employees or to retain them at a significantly watered down remuneration package, the key is to do it with a genuine sense of compassion and responsibility so as to retain your imprint in the hearts of the people as a business that everyone can trust.

So where does the implied term of mutual trust and confidence feature in the current situation?

Analogies create blind spots. Studying plagues of the past may not accurately predict the changes that COVID-19 may bring to the country’s employment landscape. No one knows for sure what will happen next. But what is almost certain, according to Mercer, is that employees will expect more empathy from their employers during and after the pandemic.

Before culling the headcount, therefore, businesses should stop and think about the good times before the pandemic hit and how their people brought about those good times. HR practitioners may want to want to encourage the Management to think away from the box and consider more compassionate solutions which may leave a more lasting impact to the company after the pandemic is over.

At the very least, businesses should do what they can to protect and provide for their people during these trying times.

HR can discuss the ideas below with the Management:

1. Establish clear policies and procedures relating to Covid-19. Managing risks associated with Covid-19 requires a properly-structured system of internal rules and procedures, which must then be communicated clearly to all employees. Employees will feel more assured that they are being taken care of by their employer with proper policies and SOPs in place to safeguard their well-being and safety. These may cover preventive measures such as usage of PPE, employees’ obligation to practice good hygiene, employee health declarations and record-keeping during the pandemic, management of suspected and confirmed Covid-19 cases amongst employees, travelling during and post-MCO, social distancing, work segregation, and other salient aspects of risk management. Keep your people safe and your people will keep your business safer.
2. Keep everyone abreast on important Covid-19-related information. Create a WhatsApp group for all staff to share updated Government regulations and laws, articles and information from trusted sources and useful external resources. This will not only ensure that everyone has access to necessary and useful data, but it will also help create a sense of bonding between employer and employee and may assist in reducing employees’ anxiety levels amidst all the uncertainty. Just make sure you establish the ground rule from the onset that the group is to convey Covid-19 information only and not any other unrelated matters.
3. Check in often. Touch base with your employees to see how they are. Ask those on WFH if they need any additional support to make working from home more comfortable and productive. Those with family members or relatives suffering from Covid-19 should be given morale support and assurance. A little care will go a long way.
4. “Think Like a Mother”. Yifat Susskind, Executive Director of MADRE, an international women’s rights organisation, created a unique yet practical lens from which we can look at problems and challenges, no matter how big they are. In this time of uncertainty, if businesses look at their situation from the eyes of a mother, their first instinct would be to turn their employees’ attention away from the horror and dismay brought about by the pandemic and redirect them towards hope and light. Consider this approach and see what changes you could bring to your organisation.
5. Empathic communication. If you must break bad news, refine your communication skills. Be employee-centric: where possible, personally call employees or hold a video-conference. Never drop a bomb on employees by sending termination or paycut decisions through WhatsApp or email without prior notice. Give employees ample space to ask questions and where explicit consent is required give them reasonable time to think and decide. Coax, but never force their consent. This kind of situation requires tact, skill and patience. How you say what you say can alter an employee’s view of themselves or their future. Using a template or communication protocol may help in this situation. This will also ensure that you do not traverse the boundaries of the law.

Be an employer with a heart this season. You are the reason why your employees wake up in the morning, you give them a sense of purpose in life and you are the catalyst for their families’ happiness. Be that employer who honours your end of the trust and confidence deal. Your people are still standing by you, even until today. And they will be the ones to help build you up again after this is all over. They never thought about deserting you when times are tough. Why should you push them away? Think about it.

? Tahirah Manesah Abu Bakar 2020