Tip 2: Benchmarks Are Useless

Right now, I’m offering free advice or tips to employers, HR or Internal Comms teams to help them understand their employees’ needs in this new world. For example…

I’d argue that benchmarks have limited use at the best of times, but that’s for another day.

In response to this situation, every employer’s situation will be different. They are all affected by things in different ways: some super-busy, some eerily quiet, some totally re-tasked. They’ll all have made different arrangements, and have people working in different ways.

So, it’s no good finding out what others are doing and applying that solution. You need to know how things lie with your workforce and their circumstances. You can only do that by talking to your people, and seeing how they feel. Only then can you plan to help them better.

You need to find your own way.

Get in touch if I can help.

Tip 1: They won’t tell you how they’re feeling

You ask a friend “how are you?” They might very well say “fine”, but you might know they’re not.

So, you ask them again. That’s enough to nudge the door open; they tell you a bit more about what’s up.

That’s how you need to think right now. Everyone will be keen to assure you they’re fine, that they don’t need help. But everyone will be in some state of not-fine.

Some of that will be work-related, some won’t. Some you can solve, some you can’t. But it’s part of your duty of care to ask, to listen, to do what you can to help. To simply understand if you can’t.

Throughout the current crisis I’m offering free advice or tips to employers, HR or Internal Comms teams to help them understand their employees’ needs in this new world. Get in touch if I can help.