As states, counties and cities begin easing shelter in place orders and allowing a phased return to work, businesses across the country are developing plans to bring employees back to central work locations. While leadership teams create operational procedures for that return, communicators are being asked to develop outreach strategies to inform employees of the new processes.
Communications professionals know that their role has never been to act as a one-way bullhorn. We won’t succeed if we only push messages out to our audiences. True communication happens when the messages are flowing in both directions. This practice has never been more critical than it is in the age of COVID-19. With employees, vendors, and contractors being asked to return to a new normal, their concerns and questions must be considered and answered for any communication strategy to be effective.
Additionally, your customers and clients will present their own set of concerns – for how you’re addressing your employees’ safety, as well as their own.
Best practices suggest a quick employee survey to gather information on what is forefront on the minds of employees returning to work. Consider employee concerns as fundamental to your internal messaging, in addition to any procedural changes.
As we work with our team and our clients’ teams, here are some of the consistent questions we are hearing:
What changed since we were sent home? Why are we coming back now?
Citing the experts whose advice you are taking on the development of a timeline will be essential for many of your employees. While politicians (governors, county and city mayors) have the authority to reopen their communities, it will be most important to reference the advice of non-partisan medical experts, such as the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health. Each has outlined recommendations for reopening. Citing those organizations and the benchmarks your company has met, which allow you to reopen safely, will be important to share.
How will we be protected?
Here too, following the best practices recommended by trusted medical experts gives your organization the best chance to communicate effectively. In outlining new cleaning protocols, shifts, division of labor or social distancing, citing experts gives you credibility and shields leadership from bearing the burden of creating health protocols that are outside their expertise.
How will we work differently?
While we may not have a full answer to this question immediately, transparency about what we do know is critical. Below are just a few of the questions that employers will be faced with as they develop and communicate new policies.
travel will continue on an essential basis only, with examples of what meets the criteria.
meetings will continue to be virtual, whenever possible. When necessary, no more than 10 in-person participants, with others joining remotely.
everyone must honor 6-ft social distancing (are there any floor markings or taped-off areas to indicate required spacing?)
outline changes in sick leave (will a doctor’s note still be required?)
additional cleaning and disinfection will take place (what and when?)
detail if/how your corporate clinic handles possible cases of COVID-19
the corporate work-from-home policy has been updated:
will your WFH policy allow for families without childcare to continue to work from home?
if an employee finds out they came in contact with an infected person, what should they do to report their situation?
how much additional sick time will be given to infected employees or those caring for a sick family member?
will employees in high-risk categories be provided the opportunity to continue working from home?
If employers are unable to address these concerns, more time may be needed on the policy and procedure steps before focusing on the communication aspect of the plan.
How long will this phase last?
Because of the fluidity of the health data driving the crisis, it would be helpful to create a point for a reevaluation of the plan, such as within 30 days. This timeline gives leadership enough runway to evaluate the implementation successes and gives medical experts additional data to determine the effectiveness of the regional return-to-work strategy.
This would be a good opportunity to reinforce the expertise on which you are relying, such as, “We are all doing the best we can with the information we have right now. As that information evolves over the next four weeks, we will adjust based on the advice of the medical experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, as well as our local healthcare and community leaders.”
Who can I talk to if I have additional questions?
You may not get many (any?) volunteers for this position, but employees should have an email address or phone number of someone they can reach out to with questions or concerns. While we will all be tempted to direct them to their supervisors, this increases the odds that employees in different departments will receive different information. Also, employees may not feel comfortable reporting non-compliant behavior to their supervisor if this person has not demonstrated that they themselves are following the new policies.
If your insurance provider offers a nurse navigator hotline, contact your insurer for details. Ask what training those answering the phones have had and ensure they are aware of local testing sites where they can direct employees, if needed. Ensure that the folks answering this line have the necessary knowledge about COVID-19, and share the navigator hotline with employees for their health-related questions. Also note that your insurer or local urgent care clinic may cover telehealth services. If they do, let employees know about the services, so they can access health care for COVID-19 or other health concerns.
For questions about the policies outlined in the return-to-work communications, a single HR leader or other leadership team member should be offered as a contact for employee questions and clarifications. As trends in questions are identified, additional communications can be created to address those needs, including a daily-updated FAQ page/email to team members.
Honoring our duty as communicators to bring stakeholders’ concerns to the leadership table has never been more critical. In this time of unprecedented change for businesses and employees, ensuring core questions are answered through our internal communications will benefit both the stakeholders and the businesses we advise.
As you focus on your return-to-work communication, you must continue to lead with empathy. Some employees will be excited to return, and others will be extremely stressed, lack childcare and be worried. Read more about developing empathetic communication in Communicating in the Age of COVID-19: More Substance, Less Noise.