MESSAGING DURING A CRISIS

Sanjeewaka Kulathunga writes that ethical leaders are vital during crises of catastrophic proportions

The world is dealing with life in the aftermath of an unprecedented catastrophe in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. And it’s now being economically impacted further by the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Millions of individuals have concerns about their employment since businesses are facing bankruptcy due to the strained global financial system. Even in organisations where employment is secure, people are being compelled to adapt to new work routines and projects that may change or fail as a result of the crises.

Employees in any organisation will be naturally concerned and anxious about their job security in troubled times. Economic concerns are dominating the news, and popular telecommuting won’t put an end to rumours of layoffs and financial cuts.

As such, it is necessary for leaders to be as candid and transparent as possible with their teams throughout any calamity. Corporate leaders need to be cautious and not overwhelm their staff with fearful information – for example, they don’t need to discuss every aspect of global scenario developments with them.

Given the rapidly changing nature of the pandemic or an intensifying war, overwhelming information may disrupt the smooth functioning of any organisation.

Instead, managers must keep corporate communications pertaining to the crisis as transparent and succinct as possible. This is vital for ethical leadership; and if necessary, management may show employees where they could receive more information if they wish to do so.

Many businesses have built a component of their intranet where information is centrally updated, and employees are allowed to access it as and when they need to.

Being empathetic to workers in such a mega crisis provides employers with a good opportunity to prove that they are compassionate and caring leaders. Recognising the gravity of difficult times for their staff and assessing how they’ve been dealing with it is critical to building long-lasting relationships.

When an organisation takes the trouble – particularly during a crisis – to discover how the leadership can support their workers without discrimination, it sends out a strong message of caring and empathy to the workforce.

Furthermore, corporate leadership should pragmatically analyse both direct and indirect impacts of the crisis on their employees and stakeholders.

For example, hospital businesses – more than most other organisations – need to exercise greater care over the protection of their employees’ and patients’ health in a pandemic or war situation.

Some employees may be anxious about the health of their loved ones or may have medical issues themselves, which could place them at higher risk of contracting COVID-19.

Others could have family members who are facing unemployment or working in front line jobs such as healthcare or conflict affected regions.

And some employees may be dealing with greater anxiety and uncertainty, about the upcoming months and years during a crisis or conflict.

Japan’s health ministry recently took a bold step, and began paying compensation amounting to ¥ 8,330 a day to all employees in the private and public sectors – if they needed to take paid leave to care for their children as a result of countrywide school closures due to the pandemic.

Many businesses have urged their staff to work from home until COVID-19 is fully contained. Some people who have not been used to working from home for lengthy periods find this to be a significant life shift and many are still struggling to adjust.

It is vital for business leaders to be available to and reachable by their staff, and they need to behave as members of a united family that’s facing a crisis together.

The brief communications that managers usually have with colleagues during routine office hours may not be sufficient under these conditions; they will need to make a noticeable effort to demonstrate their presence and availability whenever it is required.

Millions of businesses around the globe began using conference and social media platforms – such as Zoom, Skype, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Facebook and Twitter – to share information and conduct online meetings to inquire about how their employees or colleagues were managing during the pandemic.

There are many difficulties involved in creating and promoting global ethical leaders with the required knowledge, competencies and strategies that are needed to deal with the challenges posed by the various crises that they have to confront and resolve, in what is a complex and turbulent business environment.

However, corporate leaders must continue to maintain their focus on why this role is absolutely critical for any organisation in an uncertain future.