Back to School, Back to Work, but Not Quite Back to Normal
Restaurants are back open for inside dining throughout most of the country, but there’s plenty of empty tables. Schools are reopening, but with desks six feet apart and sporting dividers. Some patrons wearing masks by mandate and others by choice, but all looking at unmasked patrons who are glaring back at masked patrons in some kind of bizarre staring contest.
Businesses are reopening or reopened, and in a lot of cases reinventing themselves. Some have pivoted due to the impact COVID-19 had on them, others are trying to go back to the glory days of February 2020. The first thing that must happen before any real notion of back to normal is even on the horizon though, is stopping the spread of COVID-19. Until then, it is all really an effort to try to return as close to normal as things can appear, while all the while playing whack a mole with a deadly, changing, global pandemic.
But the world has to move forward in spite of the necessary precautions and risks in doing so. Life in a bubble does have a shelf life and between the economic impacts of the past 18 months, the availability of vaccinations, and the intent of some people to go about life virus be damned, there’s definitely an expiration date on this bubble, and many would argue that it has already past. This week, I was asked to be a panelist at a virtual meeting to discuss our experience at ETHIX360 in reopening. To discuss what we have done and why, and what we have seen from our client base which is diverse across both industries and geography.
I plan to break my focus into several areas, but above all else encourage the audience not to make any long-term plans. Rather to deal with horizons we can see now and to anticipate that both progress will be made, new variants may emerge, and certainly the strain on all of us will only get heavier and heavier.
So here’s how I’ll lay it out:
As you reopen, the safety of the constituents you are reopening for needs to be top of the list. In schools, you have employees (teachers, food service, administration, safety) and students. In restaurants you have patrons and employees (wait staff, cooks, bartenders). At the dentist office you have employees (hygienists, receptionists, dentists) and patients. At stores, you have associates (cashiers, salespeople, stock clerks, managers) and customers. Customers, patients, patrons and students are the people that your employees serve. And they all deserve to have a reasonable expectation of safety. In a scene from the Star Trek movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” Mr. Spock famously said, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” And right now, we find ourselves as a civil society in a similar spot. Inside secret – I hate wearing a mask. It’s uncomfortable. It’s hot. The straps make my ears hurt and mouth breathing make your breath stink. Plus, I’m fully vaccinated and have been for months. But also, my 6 year old grandson is highly susceptible to upper respiratory infections and has spent time in his young life in the Pediatric Intensive Care Until battling pneumonia. He’s 6 and unable to be vaccinated. COVID-19, especially the Delta variant, could possibly kill him. Add that to the fact that the only hospital with a PICU anywhere near him is at 100% capacity now due to the number of infected kids clinging on to life by their fingertips. My discomfort, my bad breath, my mascne, my sore ears are all small prices to pay to stay clear of infection and not risk being the selfish reason that he gets infected. Every business owner should feel that way about every employee they have, every patron who sits down in their restaurant, every student who enters their classroom.
Make the rules change to the dynamic of the situation and make it easy to communicate rapid changes to your employees. That is if you expect them to follow them. So how do we do that? We certainly don’t do that by updating the PDF of a policy at the end of the year and emailing it out to people. We do that by having policy management systems that allow us to rapidly, even immediately, change a policy and instantly communicate it to impacted employee groups. And when we deliver it to them instantly and electronically, we can make sure they read it, understand it, and agree to abide by it.
Avoid ostracizing people for expressing concerns. Part of leadership is accepting reality and managing through the day to day turbulence that reality dumps on your plans. Sure, have great plans. That matters. They should be your guiding light, reflect your company’s principles and put your company culture on display. But also know that reality is going to work its hardest to derail them. Some people are afraid, still others misinformed. Some people care for others, some are selfish. Some will take any challenge and twist into personal gain, others will face a challenge with courage and dignity. And you know what? You have employees, associates, teachers, receptionists, bartenders, patrons, customers, cooks and students who fall on both sides of every one of those. Listen to their concerns and address them – some concerns are from misinformation so help them find accurate information. Some are from prior experiences and not really relevant, so help them focus on today’s challenge and not yesterday’s. But mainly, listen. For most businesses, and I know we have seen this with many of our clients, their hotline and reporting systems have expanded to a place some employees vent, some seek guidance and some seek help.
So leaders, stay above the fray. Put the “you” on the shelf for a little while longer and give everyone the best safety they can hope for. And accept that some selfish folks will scream, pout or protest, but we’ve been to enough COVID-19 memorial services. Share your expectations quickly, clearly and publicly and stand by them … and be ready change them as circumstances change. Remember that clarity is critical when setting behavioral expectations. And give a voice to everyone – even people you don’t agree with. Help them find truth. Help them find sanctuary. And once you are aware of a wrong, go right it.
The ETHIX360 blog brings you weekly updates on all things human resources and compliance.
MEET THE AUTHOR
J Rollins is the co-founder and CEO of ETHIX360. J is a well known leader and innovator who has served on senior leadership teams ranging in responsibility from Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, SVP of Product Strategy and Chief Operating Officer.
ABOUT ETHIX360
At ETHIX360, our goal is simple: to provide an affordable, flexible, and comprehensive answer to employee communication, policy management, corporate training and case management on issues related to corporate ethics, code of conduct, fraud, bribery, and workplace violence.
