Six Top Tips for Leaders to Support Employees
It is important to support employees in times of crisis. Here are six tips for leaders on how they can support their employees.
Recognise that employees may be experiencing serious challenges. This is the time to tap into your patience and empathy. Although you have a business to run, that business is run by humans. Take care of them, and they will take care of your business. Give them support by showing empathy, stay visible and accessible to employees.
Create a safe environment for employees to discuss what they’re experiencing. After the crisis has passed, it can be helpful to hear what your employees thought. This will help you to understand what went well and was helpful as your employees navigated the situation. It will also help you to understand where you could better respond in the future.
Provide awareness training for managers and teams to recognise the signs of distress in colleagues. Don’t apply a universal approach to all crisis care.
Provide support to your managers and create space for flexibility. You need to support your managers by preparing them to implement tailored employee care responses. So that it addresses individual needs respective to each employee’s lifestyle.
Signpost employees to internal and external resources available to them. You as a leader should compile and monitor a bank of resources that can be deployed during a crisis. In any case, you as a leader and your managers should know which crisis tools and services can be offered to employees.
Provide support to your employees. Give them the flexibility in working hours and time off work to help them sort things out. Recognise that responding to a crisis will put a strain on energy levels. As well as the ability to focus, and overall productivity levels in the workplace.