Contacting workers after Cyclone Freddy

The majority of employees are unable to help but carry their uncertainty and worries to work, whether it is in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Freddy. Such terrible occurrences give managers a rare chance to show leadership by assisting staff members through a trying moment.

Despite this, it can be challenging to decide what to say or do. What actions should you take to reassure staff members and promote output? Can excessively distracted workers be made to focus? What expressions and behaviours are best avoided?

The good news is that managers have a lot of tools at their disposal to support their staff.

First and foremost, it is crucial to think carefully about what to say and how to say it. Managers might gather everyone together right away and voice their concern.

We can use this chance to learn if the cyclone has personally affected somebody. Given that the employees’ families and friends are dispersed throughout the Southern Region, particularly in Blantyre, one or more of them might have a relative who was harmed by Cyclone Freddy.

Managers can lead a moment of silence in place of leading a group prayer. Management needs to be aware that their staff probably consists of non-believers and people of various religions.

Managers do not have to unintentionally upset workers who do not hold the same values as them to undermine their statements of concern.

One of the top managers might say, “We wanted to get everyone together this morning to discuss for a little bit about the awful thing that happened yesterday. We will observe a moment of silence afterward in memory of the victims.”

Management must exercise caution when addressing impacts of devastating events such as Cyclone Freddy. “Each of us is responding to this in our own way and may have differing opinions on what has happened,” for example. “Let us be mindful of one another’s emotions. We are a team, so please remember to treat one another with extra kindness and respect today and throughout the week. I am sure we can all agree that it’s critical to band together at a time like this.”

Second, management must constantly maintain reasonable expectations. How much work did you and your co-workers accomplish while Cyclone Freddy was a threat? Everyone was completely unproductive and felt shocked, unhappy, angry and puzzled.

Management can adjust their expectations for what can actually be done in the days and weeks following Cyclone Freddy by using that period of time as a precedent.

Management may take into account extending all non-critical deadlines and enabling workers to go home to be with their family depending on how near Cyclone Freddy strikes the workforce.

Coaching employees who are too distracted is also necessary. The majority of workers ought to be able to resume their regular workloads on their own after a few days. However, occasionally a worker becomes preoccupied with anxiety or becomes fixated on a particular aspect of a tragedy.

If a worker’s long-term productivity is suffering, a private conversation is necessary. Management needs to keep the dialogue on the concrete, such as incomplete tasks and missed deadlines.

Management must also take care of urgent needs. Management must take into account hiring one or more counsellors to conduct group and one-on-one counselling sessions. If staff members are having problems focusing, suggest they take more regular breaks or go for a quick stroll.

Undoubtedly, external factors have an impact on the workplace in both positive and negative ways. Though it is normal to concentrate on tragic incidents, do not forget to encourage staff members to get together to celebrate positive occasions as well.

When in doubt about what to say, management must always turn to their human resources team!