Page 48 - BusinessWest October 26, 2020

Fatigue protocols to
connect in ways beyond what they’re doing for work every day.
“We always, always make sure to start those weekly meetings with a virtual water cooler,” she told BusinessWest. “Everyone takes turns sharing something, whether it’s an arti- cle they’ve come across over the past week or something personal — they got a new dog and they want to show off the pictures, or some household project that they’ve finally completed.
“We make sure to create time for that at all those staff meetings, so we’re connect- ing with each other as people and not just as co-workers,” she went on, adding that the agency also allows for very flexible schedules and encour- ages employees to stop and
step away from their work when they need to, and not stare at a computer screen for hours on end.
At MBK, one of the partners, Jim Krupienski, stages a monthly check-in social, Stack said, dur- ing which the company has a cocktail hour of sorts
where those working from home can join in remotely. “It’s just really to check in and talk about anything other than work,” she noted. “It’s a mental-health check-in with adult beverages.”
Scanning the landscape, Wise believes many companies are struggling in their efforts to maintain morale among their employees. It’s easier for a small- er business to undertake initiatives in this regard than those with several hundred employees, she noted, but most are trying to do something.
It might be a food truck or two coming to the parking lot — even sharing a large pizza box can be risky during a pandemic — or more communication from the C-suite, she said, adding that there is more ‘management by walking around’ in this environ- ment, or at least there should be.
Meanwhile, employers are pushing people to take time off and providing more one-on-one employee counseling, duties now falling in many cases to human-resources professionals, especially at smaller companies that do not have employee-assistance programs.
“They’ve had to put on their social work, psy- chologist’s hat,” she noted. “And it’s not something that they’re used to. But some employees just need to vent; they’re saying, ‘I don’t know what to do or where to go.’”
Bottom Line
While no one really knows when the pandemic will subside and something approaching normal returns to the workplaces of Western Mass., what most business owners and managers do know is that their valued employees will need some help getting to that point.
At a time when most e-mail messages end with the message ‘stay safe and stay sane,’ or words to that effect, achieving those goals has been anything but easy.
Addressing this battle fatigue has become an important, and ongoing, assignment for many busi- nesses, and the smart ones understand that the fight is far from over, and they need to keep finding ways to be attentive and creative — and even fun. u
George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
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make sure
that the environment is as safe and secure as possible — from
sanitizing and cleaning to plastic barriers to main- taining that social distance,” she explained. “And at certain points, we limited our staff to maintain that social distancing; in retail, it’s natural that you have to have that interaction with the public, and that can be scary. How do you support them through that? It starts with safety and wellness, and promoting that wellness.”
But, as noted, support has come in many different forms, she noted, including efforts to help the com- pany’s 12,000 employees manage the pandemic. And as she talked about it, Tetreault stressed the need to address each employee individually and, when pos- sible, customize a response.
“We found that it comes down to each individual employee’s needs and wants, and our store teams are a big part of that,” she said. “Our employee-ser- vices representatives are in each store to assist with employee needs, identifying opportunities and hav- ing some of those individual conversations to find out what works for that particular individual.”
Elaborating, she said the company amended its attendance policies; established something called ‘COVID leave,’ which enabled employees to take time off without losing their status; and created more flex- ibility for workers.
“Our store hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., but we have people who come in and work overnight shifts as well,” she explained. “And we’re able to work with employees to find a schedule and position them to support their individual needs, be it childcare or even wishing to limit contact with customers.”
COVID Coping
Overall, while morale is an issue some companies address at least some of the time, it has become more of a front-burner topic during the pandemic, out of necessity, said those we spoke with.
“We’re seeing morale dip a bit; people are trying to put a good face on it, but it’s becoming harder and harder to do that,” Wise told BusinessWest. “So we’re trying to find things we can be doing to raise morale.”
Such efforts include e-mails on Wednesday reminding people that they can almost see Friday, and other e-mails on Friday telling people to turn their computers off at 4:30, go home, and not think about work over the weekend, or even watch the
PeoplesBank conducted its annual Employee Fest this year, but it was decidedly different, with many of the activities carried out remotely.
At MBK, morale-building has been a year-long priority, said Sarah Rose Stack, Marketing & Recruit- ing manager, adding that it comes in several forms, from so-called social-media holidays, where people post pictures of pets, children, or travel destinations; to the concert T-shirt day, flip-flops day, and alma- mater day; to food trucks, which have come on sev- eral occasions.
The company has traditionally done such things, and it has long had what’s been called the ‘Fun Com- mittee,’ which arranged an axe-throwing competi- tion and visit to a brewery last year, for example. This year, the activities are different, but there are more of them, with good reason.
“A lot of places are scaling back on these kinds of things for various reasons, and I don’t think it’s the time to do that,” she noted. “I think it’s time to put a little more gas on the fire because you don’t want to lose engagement or enthusiasm with your organization.”
Many of the initiatives at MBK and elsewhere fall into the broad category of connectivity, an important
MONICA BORGATTI
“We always, always make sure to start those weekly meetings with a virtual water cooler. Everyone takes turns sharing something, whether it’s an article they’ve come across over the past week or something personal — they got a new dog and they want to show off the pictures, or some household project that they’ve finally completed.”
news.
Region-wide, morale-building efforts run the
gamut from food and games to team-building exer- cises, either in person or the remote variety.
At PeoplesBank, the week-long event known as Employee Fest was staged as always, but it did look and feel different, said Roberts, noting that many activities were carried out remotely, with gifts deliv- ered to all employees, whether they were working at the office, in one of the branches, or remotely.
ingredient for success at any business, and some- thing that’s been lacking due to the pandemic.
Monica Borgatti, chief operating officer for the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, said the small staff of three full-time and three part-time employees has mostly been working remotely since March. That means no water-cooler talk — literally, anyway, she said, adding that the nonprofit has tried to incorporate those types of discussions into the regular Zoom meetings in an effort to help people
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