Above all, remember that communicating in bland generalities about change and uncertainty only scares people and erodes your credibility to lead through the crisis. Look for someone that people feel can empathize with them and who has credibility.Īs CEO, check in daily or twice weekly with your pulse owner to get a sense of how the employees are doing, address any issues escalated to you, and make sure that people know exactly how you’ve acted on them. The company cannot afford for that to happen right now. Preferably that person should not be the CEO, for whom it will likely become just one more thing on the list that will get skipped. In larger companies, there should be someone for each business unit. I advise nominating one person to “own” the employee pulse during the next three to six months - employee engagement and well-being needs to be in one person’s hands. If you have a mix of these situations, make sure your communications are consistent, but also tailored to each group. How this is managed depends on the state your business is in right now: constant and frantic (food delivery, grocery, collaboration software) paused and possibly panicky (leisure and hospitality) or significantly slowed down but otherwise functioning (many industries right now). This communication should be for wellbeing and updates, not micromanagement (not everyone can work an eight-hour day while home-schooling elementary children). Part of getting through the survive phase is bringing your employees along with you and ensuring there is clear, consistent communication and frequent check-ins.
No prizes for guessing why this is strategically important.
THRIVE MEANING IN BUSINESS DRIVERS
Do you have delivery drivers who used to deliver supplies to restaurants who could instead deliver similar products for other companies to shared kitchens or homes? Ask yourself if you should be on the sending or receiving end of employee borrowing, and if so, with whom? 2. is allocating 5,000 employees they would otherwise have to have furloughed to a grocery store. If you run a chain of retail stores that has been forced to close shops, can your employees be sent to work temporarily in another company? One fast fashion retailer in the U.K. Repurposing can also take the form of borrowing and lending your people. Companies with home sewing networks are turning them to making masks. In the US, Tito’s vodka is repurposing to making hand sanitizer and giving it away for free. In France, perfume giant LVMH is re-purposing to making hand sanitizer. In the U.K., Formula One teams are switching plants to making ventilators.
Start by thinking about what your country or community might need to help them get through the crisis. Why is this strategic? Simple: thinking about what else your people can do in a crisis opens your eyes to possible strategic adjacencies and partnerships for after the crisis. Your first step (once you’re sure you can actually stay afloat) should be to look at which parts of the business (plants, lines, people) are paused right now that you could quickly repurpose. Your people decisions will fall into four categories: 1. But pretty quickly, you’re going to have start making decisions about your people - and that’s when things really get strategic. The playbooks for that don’t need rehearsing here. To be sure, you’ll have to do the basics, which are mostly about making sure you have enough cash on hand to stay in business. That depends on decisions you have to take now - and many of the right ones may not be the obvious ones. The challenge, therefore, is not just to get through this period but to survive it in such a way that you can reset in order to thrive. While the concern is understandable, leaders must remember that downturns can be a great time to grow. Senior executives are now rightly worried about what the crisis and subsequent downturn mean. To get all of HBR’s content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter.
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