Based on our “Remember Humanity in HR” episode with Gabriella Parente Neubert
Many employers are facing big challenges today. It’s a tough time for everybody. We’re still not out of the woods yet. Employers are experiencing downsizing turnover. We’re having this mass exodus of employees leaving companies, and then we fight for that great talent. People are really struggling and going through a lot.
Leaders have to focus on the bottom line because the organization can’t survive if the bottom line is in the red. How do we balance that with humanity and doing things that are going to help the employees?
- Think outside the box
Structure work weeks, time off and bring kindness into the workplace.
- Your health insurance carrier
It has some sort of wellness program, EAP and service attached to it that we can do to just help lessen the stress and anxiety.
- Do a team exercise and team building
It creates bonding and a break from work.
- Send gift cards
It’s the little things like saying, “Hey, go get yourself a coffee or donut.” They have some kind of common purpose.
- Give free options
Like creating flexible work weeks and flexible time off, we can still be efficient but give our employees what they need right now because it definitely ties into inclusivity and equity.
- Utilize those benefits
If you’re offering health benefits most of the time, give them all those resources. It doesn’t have to be counseling; it could be life coaching or yoga class. There are plenty of options.
As leaders, it’s always important to remember that we need to show our value and our worth. Do some surveys, let’s talk to people, hold town halls, get in there and figure out what our people want, then do something about it and measure it so we can show our leaders the measurable results of knowing how we can make a difference.
Ask your employees what they need instead of just deciding
If you’ve hired the right people, you should be able to trust them. Give them the time that they need to heal and do not make it any more stressful on them because they’re having to do so many other things. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and let’s just talk to them. Let’s just have a human-to-human conversation.
We can actually trust our workers. We can let them decide how they need to work. If they can’t make it at seven, ask when they can make it. If they would rather work an extra hour or two at night when the kids go to bed, then let them do that.
Everyone has their own situation. People are raising children and we have to be cognizant of people who are on hourly schedules where they have to be somewhere.
That’s a different challenge that we really need to address and how can we help them? There are ways to do it. It’s not impossible by any means. Everyone has their own unique situation. Letting them decide how they need to work and having those conversations can be really helpful.
We’re all humans. It doesn’t matter what title we have, we’re all human beings. We all have things going on in our lives, and they’re all just different. It’s respecting our team, the people that we hired and that we chose to come into this family, so to speak. If you choose them, trust them.
You can’t move forward unless you know the real issues here. Let’s train our folks, let’s talk about it, let’s have groups where we can get together and discuss some of the challenges of being a mom or dad who’s raising children. Of all the different groups, it’s such an open forum now to create a community as well.
It speaks to mental health and wellness. Society has not allowed us to be vulnerable at work. You’re not supposed to cry or look weak; you’re supposed to just be focused and present. If you have problems, we’re going to try to figure out how to get rid of them.
We want this version of people at work, and that’s not real, so COVID really allowed people to let their guards down a little bit and open up about how they were feeling, and we encourage everyone to take advantage of that. Let’s make it normal to talk about how we’re feeling. Then that creates a psychological safety zone where people can then talk about these uncomfortable kinds of topics or their trials and tribulations.
Employees have always had to have a tough exterior when they come to work. We can’t really even be ourselves or be human. COVID just showed us that there’s a lot more to us. We are complex individuals; we’re not just workers.
