COVID-19 - Q&A

Being patient and respecting that everyone is doing their best.
Lots of calls with babies/toddlers and pets involved.
You just need to be tolerant it as you know it’s people doing their best.
The opposite of compressed hours – extended hours where people do their work over a longer time period if they are part-time.

Reducing hours
Focusing people in internal projects
Pay reductions (salaried staff)
Forced leave
General comment was that junior staff are very nervous and probably need more communication.

There is little information available specifically for helping support stressed managers. There are a number of elements discussed below (for employees) that are also relevant for managers.
It is clear that management teams need to meet regularly, have open forums, buddy-up to ensure they have people to talk to in the peer group (or an external coach), and have ready access to EAP if needed.
Additionally, providing clear guidance (and in some cases coaching) on how to manage remote workforces is also being offered. The key is to recognise that goals, targets and expectations need to be reset from the top down so managers are not trying to operate in a manner that simply doesn’t fit the times.

Additionally, ensuring teams (and individuals within each team) are:

Establishing a structure and routine for each day:
Getting up and going to bed at a regular times (as if you were going into the office to work every day)
Ensuring you maintain usual hygiene routines as if you were going into the office each day
Observing regular meal times
Breaking the day into blocks of time and use for different purposes to give variety
Have a different routine for the weekends to feel like you are having a break
Are planning-in and using daily exercise time – extremely important for supporting your mental as well as physical health - even if this is simply going for a exercise walk.

Communicating openly and honestly with employees
By being more transparent and discussing worst-case scenarios, managers cannot only reduce stress but also other dysfunctional outcomes, like increased gossip and decreased commitment, which often occurs when employees are faced with ambiguous situations
Jobs are especially stressful when they are characterised by heavy workloads, time pressure, and intense concentration combined with low levels of autonomy and decision-making input. Although managers may be less able to reduce job demands during this pandemic, they should be able to empower their workers by giving them greater autonomy and decision-making authority, and doing so can make a meaningful difference.
When employees view stressful situations as a challenge, they tend to exhibit greater motivation and performance; however, when those stress factors are seen as a hindrance or obstacle to achieving their goals, employees’ motivation and performance tend to suffer.
Managers should help their employees see this difficult time as an opportunity for them to grow, develop, and help others. At the same time, managers should do their best to eliminate bureaucratic headaches that make it more difficult for employees to carry out their duties.

There is an excellent resource here: https://www.bcs.org/content-hub/planning-for-a-pandemic-is-your-business-prepared/
The Australia Institute of Company Directors had a good reference point which builds in flexible thinking: http://aicd.companydirectors.com.au/resources/covid-19/covid-19-seven-steps-to-adapting-business-continuity-plans-for-crisis
There was limited information on what to do and how companies are planning for if things get worse.

Employer Branding | EVP | HR Advisory