Keeping It Simple: How Three Organizations Managed Through the Pandemic
The pandemic is not over yet -- no matter how tired of it we may be – and it’s important that we keep learning from organizations that have managed the pandemic especially well, establishing sound principles and applying them with precision. We recently hosted a roundtable with three employers – Mercury Systems, Voya Financial and Nebraska Medicine – who discussed the quick changes in strategy they’ve had to make over the last several months, and the lessons they learned along the way. Some of their most effective actions have been surprisingly simple. Here are four takeaways from the conversation:
The health and safety of your employees is your #1 priority. “If we keep health and safety in mind with everything that we do, we’ll be able to reduce the risk of operational failure and deliver on our commitments to our customers and our shareholders.” According to Emma Woodthorpe, Senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer at Mercury Systems, this has been the guiding principle for her organization throughout the pandemic – and it has paid off.
Voya Financial made a similar commitment. Within a two-week period in March, they transitioned 98% of their workforce to remote working. Prioritizing the health and safety of their employees every time made the decision-making process quick and easy, says Denise Nichols, Senior Vice President, Head of HR, Retirement and Employee Benefits. Despite the quick change to remote working, the company has seen year-over-year increases in sales and higher customer retention and satisfaction.
Masks work. For Nebraska Medicine, masks and other PPE were essential to protecting their employees on the front lines. But what Frank Venuto, Chief Human Capital Officer, found most effective for protecting the health of all employees was their universal masking policy. Since its inception, they have not had a recorded case of patient to caregiver transmission.
Mercury Systems decided early on that they wanted to implement a mask requirement but encountered challenges acquiring enough masks to protect their employees. They were finally able to implement a mandatory mask requirement in early July. Around the same time, they started worksite testing and found that 75% of their positive cases were asymptomatic. They are confident their mandatory mask requirement will help curb the asymptomatic spread of the coronavirus in their manufacturing facilities.
Rethink employee wellbeing. Employers have made great strides in promoting employee wellbeing but the current environment requires a more intentional strategy. The webcast panelists have been very thoughtful about enhancing and adding wellbeing programs and resources that address the challenges their employees face today. These programs and resources include emergency relief funds; financial wellness tools and solutions; additional mental health resources; physical health apps; food and drinks in the workplace or delivered to the home; and access to medical experts to answer basic daily living questions related to the coronavirus. These offerings, designed and implemented to support worker health and safety, in some cases also promote the work/home balance that has become paramount with remote working arrangements. The panelists stressed that it’s important to listen to what your workforce needs so that you can be intentional and creative in developing the right strategy, at the right cost, for your organization.
Keep what works. Employers should remain alert to what works well. The pandemic has forced employers and employees alike to experiment with new ways of working flexibly. This experiment has been a surprising success and has opened employers’ eyes to their workforce’s adaptability. Voya Financial projects 40% to 60% of their workforce may be remote first versus office first in the future. Nebraska Medicine is looking at a future staffing model where 30% of those currently remote will remain off campus, 50% will become hybrid workers and only about 20% will return to their campus. It’s important for employers to reflect on the past few months and reevaluate long term plans in terms of how and where work can get done in the future.
To learn more about the actions these employers have taken to navigate through the pandemic, please watch our webcast replay, The New Shape of Work: Reflections on the COVID-19 Response.