Chief Boss Lady’s Pandemic Predictions for Coming Back Stronger

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As a human capital and organizational development firecracker, I have an insider’s view into company culture, the good, the bad and the ugly. One of the greatest challenges I see with business owners is their fear of having crucial conversations with their people. They spend a lot of time and energy working around the heart of an issue rather than tackling it head-on.

This pandemic offers a chance for CEOs and their leadership teams to take a breath and reimagine how their companies can come back stronger with more dedicated and happier employees. Your team won’t remember company revenues amid a global crisis, but they will remember how they were treated.

Uncertainty and anxiety are at an all-time high for employees. While business owners are eager to get back to some form of normal work, you have to be careful you’re not pushing too hard, too soon. Many employees are unable to come back to work for a variety of reasons, or they’re simply not ready. You need to put some thought into a return-to-work program that is both practical for the businesses and sensitive to individual employee needs.

And while you’re at it, now is a great time to tackle some entrenched culture quandaries. Take that difficult conversation you’re putting off. Often times, I have seen that once you confront the situation with your employee with honesty and respect, you can move forward effectively. I work with clients on framing difficult or sensitive conversations so they are direct and infused with kindness.

Employers have a chance to change, and so do employees. This pandemic is likely to highlight a need for a new type of worker, one that is extremely agile — a jack-of-all-trades. The new economy will require a competitive worker to cover one, two, three jobs at once. This may sound counterintuitive to employee enhancement, but these multiple-position players will be at an advantage once more employers resume hiring.

If you’ve got these triple threats on your team now, the pandemic is a meaningful time to reward them. Employers can get creative and consider employee perks, such as spot bonuses or quality incentives.

The remainder of 2020 may look fuzzy for employers. There will be a lot of gray areas. How to approach employees about workplace safety, mask-wearing and social distancing will be a new challenge. We will likely see a hybrid of working from home and in the office for months to come. Employers that get the right structure and flexibility will secure a place as an employer of choice when this crisis passes.

Don’t know where to start? I love helping owners engage their culture to keep people happy and thriving at work. As a trusted adviser, I help leaders by letting them know what changes need to occur so that their culture of the company becomes the best it can be. And working alongside business owners that care about forward momentum, efficiency, productivity and profitability, I help to fix problems and make all of the living, moving parts of a company work toward one goal.

Every project or program Workplace Harmony delivers requires change. And that prospect is scary to 95% of people (the other 5% are in denial). I help leaders communicate why change is necessary, what it means for your employees and how it will impact the company culture. I also help craft custom plans that offer consistent and frequent communication.

Each decision comes with a price. Recognizing that businesses need to be profitable, I also know how to read financial models and statements and look at the bigger picture. This means I talk to my clients about people as much as I talk about your long-term strategic plans.

With a background in HR and finance, I work with the C-Suite to guide you toward what needs to change by easily reading your team’s flow. When everyone is happy and moving in the same direction, the company is more profitable.

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Lauren Williams, Founder & Principle Consultant 

Lauren Williams utilizes her 20-years of expertise in the HR field to support companies by improving and enhancing their people skills/operations, which maximizes a company’s full potential. With care and passion, she focuses intently on the employee experience and how to leverage a solid community-based company culture that encourages organic employee engagement, retention, and empowerment.

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