Your Covid Defense

 

 Most organizations have one element upon which everything else is built.  When that element is performing to expectations, everything else seems to fall into place.

For some it’s their sales and marketing expertise.  For others it is their manufacturing excellence.  Some rely on their ability to be innovative in the development and delivery of cutting edge technology. Every company has something upon which they ‘hang their hat’.  What’s yours…?

In these times I wonder how many of you answered ‘…it is our delivery of HR services to our employees…’  If it is not at or near the top of your responses, you are in deep trouble and you don’t even know it!!!

Recently I was in conversation with the CEO of a major North American manufacturer of health and beauty products. She related to me how her role has changed over the past several months in response to the challenges that Covid. 

The delivery of products has obvious hurdles in the supply chain as raw materials delivery experiences disruptions. Sales struggle with some of their retailers experiencing closures or restricted sales hours.  But these issues pale in the face of the personnel matters that are often hidden from plain sight but which exist nonetheless.

Here are some examples she shared.

·       The executive who joined the company pre-Covid but whose family was still living abroad because of travel restrictions. 

·       The line employees who were living with family members in senior assisted living communities that prevented any face to face contact.

·       The middle manager who lost a partner to Covid and was left to raise three children alone.

·       Others who had adult children returning home because jobs were lost or education was being conducted on-line.

These are just some of the experiences that happen behind the curtain but which have tremendous influence of the lives of your employees.  The stress starts to manifest in mental health problems which are so difficult to diagnose unless you are prompted to look for them.

That’s why the companies with a pro-active HR division are the ones that are continuing to excel in these unprecedented times.  They are out front and leading the charge to recognize that leaders must be active life coaches for those in need.

That is not to say that the leaders should be counselors, but they must be trained to recognize signs of trouble.  Their role is to encourage those who are suffering that help exists and that there is no shame in raising their hand to say ‘help me’.

The professionals tell us that the next 4-6 months will be the darkest times of the pandemic.  The light at the end of the tunnel is not the train coming at us any longer.  There is a return to a sense of normality in our foreseeable future.

But we need to ensure that everyone make it of the darkness.  That is YOUR MAJOR RESPONSIBILITY for the next several months.  You may have to take your eye off the P & L for a time, but it will survive as long as your staff members do!

Invest in all things HR for now.  That is your best defense against Covid. And the best offence from your company!