Talking your employees through a crisis: 5 tips
During this global pandemic, people are anxious and concerned, not only about their health, but the future of their jobs. And they’re looking to you to reassure them.
To make things more complicated, you have so much on your plate right now, it can be easy to let communicating with your team fall by the wayside.
Be optimistic, but realistic
There are no magic words to ease everyone’s fears, but here’s what leadership expert coaches Brenda Steinberg and Michael Watkins suggest when it comes to talking your people through a crisis.
- Check on your team regularly. It’s important for you to monitor employees’ moods and let them know you’re there if they need to talk. A lot of people won’t voluntarily tell you if they’re struggling — but if you start asking regularly, they’ll open up.
- Stay on top of false information. In times of uncertainty, rumors can spread like wildfire. Try to stop this misinformation as quickly as possible by addressing it head on.
- Be optimistic, but realistic. Positivity is important, but so is being truthful. Don’t give your team false hope, but don’t keep dropping terrible news on them either. Strike a good balance between the two.
- Point out meaningful work. It’ll be hard to get your people to focus on completing menial tasks right now — so try to turn their attention to the more important, meaningful work they do.
- Focus on the short-term. No one can predict what will happen right now, so don’t try to. Take things one day at a time, and let your staff know what’s coming for them in the immediate future. Speculating won’t help anyone.
The post Talking your employees through a crisis: 5 tips appeared first on HR Morning.
