'Positive' is a Bad Word!

We have been hearing about COVID since Jan’2020. During January and February, the news used to have some information about COVID. We were watching how Wuhan is dealing with it and after some time we watched how Americans started dealing with COVID. Then, more countries in Europe and so on. Then our Prime Minister introduced the ‘Practice Lock down day on a Sunday’ in March and then the lock down started on 23rd March. We still watched the progress of COVID with some detachment. Mumbai, Delhi were suffering. Quickly Chennai joined the list and more cities. There was time when we were not having any news other than COVID. Then, the News channels got bored with COVID and other news also started coming into the News Bulletins. We no longer clap for Health Workers and so on.

Now COVID has entered the neighborhoods. Many homes are having the People who are positive of COVID. Many of us are having friends / relatives who were/are positive. ‘Positive’ has become a dreaded word! I wish none of you become ‘Positive’. But it is too close for comfort. Many Companies are having ‘Positive’ cases. Many Companies talk about it and take precautions. There are some companies who do not talk about it!! 

Fear 

The Employees in companies are truly afraid. The disease is one side and due to the fact that the disease is all over the papers and news channels, the Virus has truly become an issue larger than life. I am not saying for a moment that it is not a deadly virus. But the ‘fear’ of the Virus has become an equally big issue. It is bound to happen. We need to recognize this and manage this.

Once someone gets infected, the fight will become very personal. No one else can support the person due to the fear of infection. Even the hospital staff will not come forward in a volunteer manner. The support from Hospital will come to you only when you need it. We need to strengthen the employees mentally. 

With all this, It cannot be Business as usual! Leaders should not ignore the need to manage this issue and create a more motivating environment for the employees. The fear is REAL and Employees need support. 

Let us discuss a few things that all of us can do in companies to tackle this Pandemic that is ‘Inside many Companies’ right now! 

01.  RIM Plans: You should have already prepared ‘Risk identification and Mitigation’ (RIM) Plans and taken the best possible precautions in your Company. You need to keep doing audits of these practices and keep improving these practices. One should not look at these practices as something that are introduced to just manage COVID. We should look at promoting the Hygiene in the Company in a permanent manner. 

02.  Health Warriors: It would be good to involve the employees in managing this issue in the Company. Have a structure of Teams in the Company that comprise of ‘Health Warriors’. Have a Pyramid type of a structure that will ensure that the Teams are there at ALL levels. These ‘Health Warriors’ should be the Employees who are at the forefront of the fight against the ‘Fear of COVID and promoting Good health among the employees’ in the Company. It would be good to put effort in getting Volunteers for this purpose. The Health Warriors should not be nominated employees. It should not be one more CFT / Team that is working on certain Business objectives. Our objective here is to get that extra energy from employees that only comes when someone volunteers to do something. 

03.  Scientific thinking: Health Warriors should promote Scientific information about the disease among employees. Company can take the help of Professional Doctors in this. Employees are bombarded with a lot of information about COVID thru all the Social media / News channels. It is quite easy to get worried about the ‘bleak situation’ around. It would be good to bring in Senior Doctors and arrange for talks by them for the benefit of employees. There are Doctors who are working in the COVID hospitals and Doctors who are working in the Virus testing laboratories where they handle the virus itself. Still it is not that each one of them are getting infected. It is quite clear that if you take precautions and take them seriously, it is quite possible to avoid the Virus. 

04.  How to use the Face mask: It is said that there is a big majority of people in Western countries who do not like wearing the Face Mask. Trump may be the unelected Leader for this group! But in India a great majority of the people are using the Face mask. We are much better than the Western Countries. But the problem is that a very big number of these people are not dealing with the face mask in a disciplined manner. Many people can’t keep their hands off the mask. They keep adjusting it, they keep scratching the nose while the mask is on, some are really in love with the mask. They keep both their hands on the mask while they are sitting! I am not an expert on Face masks. But if we are touching the front side / Business side of the mask, then we are having the risk of taking all the virus / bacteria on to our hands. Then, we will transfer it to wherever we put our hands on! The Face mask etiquette has to be taught to the employees. 

05.  Daily Energizer: When many employees do some activity together, it promotes a togetherness and it can motivate the employees. Have a common time when all the employees have to do a well-designed Energizer. Usually the Energizer will consist of a few exercises and few breathing exercises and a short meditation session. It can’t be longer than 10-12 minutes. The Health Warriors can design this with the help of outside Yoga Professionals. Encourage even the employees who are working from home to participate in this at the designated time. The CEO should lead this. This can create a collective energy of employees. 

06.  Health sessions: You can promote longer sessions of Yoga, Zumba, Meditation, Open Gym, Daily number of steps challenge. Due to Social distancing requirements, we can’t do these together. But we can encourage the employees to use a common App and do it in their own place. But still connected on a video. Give adequate choice to the employees so that each employee should get hooked on to some type of Health session or the other. Some may be interested in Yoga while some others may be interested in Zumba and so on. Your objective should be to cover 100%. The ‘fear’ factor may get more people into Health regime than you can ever achieve! 

07.  Talks by outsiders: Bring in outsiders to talk to your employees and motivate them. You can bring in Doctors. But you can also bring in Celebrities who can motivate your employees. Now all Celebrities are having much more time than earlier. You can request the CEOs of other companies to talk to your employees. Bring in your Customers, your Suppliers and other Stake holders. Choose the topics carefully so that it can go with your own environment. 

08.  Closer Support: Have a small panel of Doctors from a good Corporate Hospital to support your employees. In the current situation, the employees may require some support on non-COVID related health issues too. These Doctors may help the employees to identify the symptoms of COVID when needed. 

09.  COVID support: If any employees get infected with COVID, then they should be supported well online by the Company’s Health warriors and others. If someone gets infected, the Company should not cut off the link with them. They should encourage a volunteer group to keep helping the family and the employee himself/ herself. 

Other than this ‘Health focused’ activities, the Company can do well to promote a healthy and challenging environment at work. Employees can get motivated when they are involved in a good Business challenge. 

Some companies are having good market now. Many companies may not have. They can create challenging targets on the Bottom line. 

01.  Challenging Targets: Company can work out a Three-year Business Growth Plan. Companies can look at making it as challenging as possible. Leaders can use the current situation and redefine their Businesses. The availability of technology for redefining the Business can be a motivating factor! Leaders should create an exciting journey for the Company. The Company level Goals should translate into exciting goals for each function and each team member. Company should be able to create several ‘Sprints’ towards Goals that are very much visible. An Athlete who runs a Sprint runs with clear vision and target. Company should create these ‘Sprints’ for every employee. This will create an extra energy in the Company and put the employee in a ‘Positive frame of mind’. 

02.  Learning Agenda: Employees also can be motivated when you show them a clear ‘Learning agenda’. Human Beings are built to Learn continuously and keep growing. A good Learning agenda will ensure that the employees will keep using their free time purposefully to complete the learning agenda. You can use the E-Learning technology for this. This again will put the employees in a ‘Positive frame of mind’. 

There can be many other ways of creating a motivating environment. Find your own ‘mix’. 

You need to recognize the need to create a more motivating environment and take care of your Employees in this hour of need! 

Start off if you have already not..