For most businesses, 2020 is the year they would rather delete out of their books. Well, I have good news and bad news for you.
The bad news is that you cannot wish the pandemic away. It is here with us and we have to walk through it no matter what. But thankfully, there is good news and that is the fact that you can defeat it if you’re united with your team.
So how do you build a team that will stick together through thin and thick, work through the challenges, overcome the economic pressure and emerge successfully…together?
Help your employees revisit their MISSION.
As a business owner, it is understandable that you are consumed with keeping your business afloat and possibly thriving even in the pandemic and that is great.
However, we all know that a business is as good as the people that work in it. This trying time for businesses can also be the time when you lose your most valued employees, making it even harder to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
So how do you ensure you retain your staff as much as possible to ensure you may recover together after the pandemic?
Recognize that your employees have a personal vision. Some may not even be clear what they are out to accomplish but it exists. Likely, your most valued employees know what they are after in life. Bring their vision to the forefront and chat out a clear way that the accomplishment of the business vision will support the accomplishment of their vision. The pandemic has threatened their personal vision just as it has threatened yours. This is a struggle we’re all aware of but one we shall win if we stick together. Let your employees know this and work together on a survival and recovery strategy for you and for them. At the end of it all, the organizations that will recover easier than the others are those which will be able to rally together towards recovery. Let all your employees know how they can contribute towards this process and how it points to their own vision.
Communicate Openly and Honestly.
There is no going around this. Businesses have been threatened by the pandemic. This calls for everyone’s efforts to be able to keep the business afloat. It calls for understanding on the part of the employees and it calls for commitment on both sides. Employees need to be willing to forego some benefits, work remotely yet still be effective. Be creative in marketing the business even if you are not the marketer and do all it takes to keep the business alive. Otherwise, you may be killing the hen which lays the eggs for you all! Both you and your employer are being fed by the same business, so invest everything you have to ensure the business stays alive and recover from the effects of the pandemic.
However, employees will not invest their best effort if they feel they are not getting all the necessary information. How bad are the finances…yes, they can see that there are no new contracts and all but, how bad is it? What can be done to mitigate this? Where else other than salaries and benefits are we willing to cut on costs? Once your employees understand the depth of the problem and are involved in finding the solution, they will invest themselves, play at full capacity and search for the solution with you. In the end, you win together.
Listen to their concerns.
Yes, you have even more problems than them, especially now. However, as a leader, you also have the responsibility to support their wellbeing.
Your employees are worried, stressed, confused and lacking in many ways. While you may not have a solution for all these, creating a safe space where all can share their concerns can mean a lot for your team.
Put a structure in place where you can meet, physically or virtually and air out concerns. Recognize that you are a team, a family and you are all being affected mainly in the same way. Listening to one another and chatting out solutions for some of the urgent challenges will make your people feel a sense of belonging and safety among the team. Such a team will scale mountains together.
In the end, the teams that have the end in mind, communicate effectively and share openly stand a higher chance of recovering-together.