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CEOs Ponder COVID-Imposed Risks

For the last 18 months CEOs have struggled to respond to the risks to their workforce and consequently to their business resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Governmental enacted benefit programs, debates over mandating face coverings, and vaccinations, the rising fears of the Delta and other variants of the virus along with information and misinformation on mainstream and social media outlets have only increased the complexity of managing employee concerns and business productivity. In the mist of the pandemic chaos, CEOs of small and medium-size companies are taking proactive initiatives to engage these issues and manage the uncertainty and employee fears in the workplace. Here are several of the action companies have taken to engage employee uncertainty and fears.

• Schedule Lunch-and- Learn sessions on specific rather than general topics of employee concerns.
• Topics organized to target specific employee demographics are most useful, for example sessions devoted to, parents of school aged children, young adults 25-40 risk factors, pros and cons of requiring vaccinations or testing before returning to the workplace, workplace safety guidelines or work remotely, myths, and facts about COVID-19 variants.
• Employees have different issues that evoke anxiety based on their specific circumstances. The lunch-and-Learn program topics should be announced in advance and employees encouraged to anonymously submit questions they may have prior to the session.
• Have written information on the session topics prepared before the scheduled session. And consider allowing employee to invite their spouse to the session.
• Have a subject matter expert available to answer questions or moderate the session. The subject matter expert can be available in person or virtually.
• Always offer attending employees the opportunity to have an individual meeting with HR or the subject matter expert to ask specific questions following the session
• Have snacks and drinks available for each session.

Keep in mind employee stress levels that trigger anxiety may have its source not directly tied to COVID-19 workplace issues but related to family or personal issues they are experiencing. The workplace health and safety issues may be exacerbating anxiety caused by underlining personal stress factors. If this is expressed or suspected by the employee, HR should refer the employee to the EAP or appropriate community services.

The failure to proactively engage employees around the COVID concerns have will have a negative impact on the business and ripple through many critical Human Resource processes including employee retention, talent recruiting, performance and productivity, employee relations, confidence in corporate leadership and commitment to corporate cultural norms and values. Despite whatever criticism employers may feel their employees have concerning the company’s management, employees trust and expect that their corporate leaders will protect their safety and listen to their concerns when they feel their personal safety in the workplace is at risk. Given the extended period of the COVID pandemic business leaders are struggling to retain key and productive employees to ensure the survivability of the business. Retention of experienced and demonstrated talent is the priority of employee engagement.