What Your Employees REALLY Want From You During A Crisis
It’s a difficult time for business owners, but it’s a hard time for our employees too. We all know that we’re in an unprecedented situation, but what we may not realize is that our employees need us now more than ever.
After health officials, employers are the most trusted source for responding effectively. People trust their employers' response more than educational institutions, the government, and the media. No pressure.
Your employees trust you so much that they want to hear from you - daily. Right now, 54% of people want to hear from their company each day, if not multiple times a day. Talk to them. Internal communication is more important than ever.
How to use communication to support your employees
Communicate with them at least once a day. HDco is having daily 9am check ins with our leadership team, and almost daily check ins with the entire team. These are often optional, so if our team is overwhelmed with work, they can keep working.
Don’t always send cold, hard facts. Lighthearted messages or helpful resources will make them feel supported too. I share recommendations that would benefit my team, and I put one or two “fun” team meetings on the calendar each week. We’ve done things like review podcasts and play virtual games. (I highly recommend “name that employee”!) These meetings keep our culture alive - and they help me hit my internal comms goals.
Remember — you can’t overshare or over communicate with your employees right now. Even though it can feel taxing as an owner, your job is to serve your employees during this time of crisis.
Have plans in place, and share them when applicable. People feel more secure when they know how situations will be handled. In fact, we recommend sharing as much information as possible. Even though it feels vulnerable, HDco has shared a three-step contingency plan with our employees. This way, they know what stage we are on currently, and how that will affect their job or salary. We posted the plan on our intranet (below), so it’s available to them at any time.
If you need help with employee communication, please reach out. The only way to get through this is to lift each other up, and HDco wants to support you however we can.
-KGB
