How is Your Culture Weathering the Pandemic?

A mentor of mine once said that he liked it when things didn’t go smoothly because it gave the opportunity to show what leadership was willing to do to address challenges.

His philosophy always made sense to me, so I was not surprised when we had a customer ask us to do one of our Cultural Accelerator surveys with them this month.  In our conversation, they stated that they wanted to know specifically how their culture was working during these challenging times.

You might be thinking, “Who has time for that?”  Business is crazy right now and it seems like there’s a new regulation or executive order daily.  But, like having a good toilet paper supply during a quarantine, tracking your culture during difficult times matters more than you might think.

Right now, employees are anxious about what is happening in a world that has been turned on its head.   They are seeing lots of articles on the value of using this time to re-evaluate what their priorities are.  Job satisfaction, including organizational culture, will undoubtedly be a factor that they will be considering.  In fact, we’re already seeing an uptick in candidate job seeking activity.

Here are some questions to ask about ways that the pandemic will continue to impact the workplace once the Stay Safe, Stay Home order is lifted: Employees have become more accustomed to working from home. What options will you offer for remote work going forward?

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• With schools remaining closed there are limited daycare options available, and those that are present exposure concerns. What options are available to working parents? What will happen to the “hazard pay” that has been offered to some health care, grocery, and other front-line workers? Will it have a long-term effect on compensation levels going forward?
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A lot of what happens next will depend on how organizations have been communicating during this time. Employees who have felt cared for and engaged will be more likely than ever to stay loyal to their employers.  The others?  Probably not.

Not certain how to keep your employees engaged during this time or to plan for when employees return?  Give us a call, we’d be happy to help.