Employees are Human. Do Your Crisis Comms Reflect That?
By: Lauren Steady
Tags: Leadership, Employee Communications, Empathy, Employee Engagement, Co Vid

The COVID-19 crisis has your employees scrambling for answers. They need a leader who understands them. They need empathy.

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

The Novel Coronavirus is causing the biggest upheaval we’ve ever seen as a modern society. Governments are telling non-essential businesses to close and cities to shelter in place. Not to mention, breweries around the U.S. have stopped brewing alcohol in order to brew, well, alcohol (more specifically, hand sanitizer). These are weird and uncertain times.

Businesses are adjusting to COVID-19 protocols and are communicating with employees about work from home policies, pay, adjusted hours, and in worse case scenarios, cuts or furloughs. Ideally, you have a communications plan already in place for crisis management, but let’s admit it, the Coronavirus has thrown us for a big ol’ fashioned quarantined, freaky loop. Now more than ever, COVID-19 communications need to show trust and show capable leadership. And it’s more than just stating the facts. You need a human approach to address an employee’s fears. You need empathy.

You’re rushing to get the latest information out the door, but remember, your employees are foremost human. They have families and social lives. They may be caring for a loved one or stressed about an older relative or immunocompromised child. By leading with empathy, you are addressing your employees as individuals who have individual worries.

Here are a few tips to remember when crafting your internal crisis management communications:

Recognize Mental Health

Make mental well-being as important as physical health and safety. These are challenging times for every person on the globe. So while you’re sharing CDC guidelines on washing hands, be sure to share tools that can help employees cope with stress, such as meditation, mental health hotline, and benefits offered through your insurance provider.

Say Thank You

Your employees are sticking by your side through a global crisis. Thank them. Tell your employees you appreciate their patience as you work through this challenging time. It’s okay to admit this is all new to you. Nothing prepared modern society for COVID-19. Remind your employees that all we can do is our best.

I also recommend giving a shout out to the front-line workers. There are over 3.8 million nurses and 1.1 million doctors in the U.S. They are working endlessly and probably doing so while not wearing the right mask because of shortages. They are putting their lives on the line, and chances are your employees will have friends and relatives involved in healthcare. Let them know you are thinking about them too.

Give Hope

Fear can cause us to make assumptions, to become angry, to feel powerless. Ease employees’ worries by instilling hope and creating a sense of community. It’s not, “the company will get through this,” it’s “we will get through this” and be stronger than ever.

You’re doing all you can to support your teams and keep them safe, but sometimes they need to hear directly that you care. Use the tips above to complement your crisis management with a humanizing communication strategy so each employee can feel less like an employee, and more like a human.