How can HR respond in times of change?

As a human resources leader, my priorities have been focused on the health and safety of our employees and their family members during the COVID-19 pandemic. The speed with which things are changing has been unlike anything I have ever experienced in my working life – or in life in general. Here are some thoughts about staying connected with employees while navigating the changing workplace. At Energage, we shifted to remote working fairly quickly. We knew this was a possibility early on, and we were able to prepare for it in advance. Still, we needed to find a way to stay connected with our employees. Each of us has different challenges with working remotely. This isn’t a normal work-from-home situation. Understanding the difference has been the biggest challenge, really. We’re in the midst of a crisis and dealing with things we haven’t had to deal with before. I heard this perspective on a webinar, and it resonated with me. It requires a shift in mindset. The changing environment has required a lot of additional communication. This includes coordinating with senior leaders and making sure we’re communicating updates and impacts frequently. It’s also important to hear feedback from employees about their concerns and what’s impacting their work. Much focus has been placed on what’s happening right now, but we’re also looking to understand the big picture. All of this has changed our day-to-day interactions, so how are we getting the most out of what we do? What are the long-term implications for healthcare-related benefits? How can we continue to stay connected to employees? Sending out pulse surveys to employees is the thing I appreciate most. These quick surveys have been great for connecting with employees. This was especially true when things were moving so rapidly in March. Communication has been key, and we’ve put a lot of effort into staying connected. The action that we took right away was to work from home. We did this before the government required it. We started the process with a pulse survey to determine our readiness to work from home. The data showed us that our employees felt they were prepared and confident we could make the change. We did that pulse on a Thursday. Got the results on Friday. Senior leadership met on Saturday, and we decided we’d make the shift to working remotely. I communicated the change to the staff. Within 48 hours of launching the pulse survey, we made the shift to a remote workforce. Above anything, remember, we are all humans, and every situation is unique. You’ve got people who are suddenly homeschooling their children in addition to having a full-time job. You’ve also got people who are alone and completely isolated. There are mental health challenges in the mix. The fact is, there is no one way that this crisis is impacting your employees. It impacts every single employee in such a different way. Finding ways to stay connected throughout the organization will help you navigate and act quickly. Lisa Sordilla is vice president of human resources at Energage, a Philadelphia-based research and consulting firm that surveyed nearly 3 million employees at more than 7,500 organizations in 2019. Energage is The Denver Post’s research partner for Top Workplaces.