Navigating COVID-19:

3 Keys for Organisations to Come Out on Top

Bonus: 5 Questions to Ask Your

Employees During this Downturn
Introduction
These are unprecedented times. We are all feeling it.
Never has the modern world before seen a larger
population working remotely during an on-going Table of Contents
pandemic. How business leaders worldwide respond,
adopt, and neutralize this scenario for the workforce 1: Ensuring Business Continuity with Employees First
will define them as the organization here to stay. The during Market Turbulence
need of the hour is to evolve to rapidly-changing
circumstances and implement policies and protocols 2: Doubling Down on Psychological Safety as a
that effectively weathers this storm. Community during a Pandemic

While there are official resources on remote work 3: Tackling Isolation with Mental Resilience during
ethics and workforce safety being released to tackle the Remote Work
outbreak, what we bring to you is a little different.
Through this report, we address the top three Bonus: 5 questions to ask your employees right now
challenges organizations are facing today with 12
simple tips that can build the mindset needed for your
workforce to come out on top once the downturn
is over.

Introduction
Ensuring
Take charge and lead from the front
Be the voice and example your workforce can tune-in to. Expect less, give more
at a time when the expected frame of mind is that of panic. Reassure your

Business
employees by connecting daily with them with updates on the business and the
decisions being taken to neutralize and ensure business as usual (BAU). Nothing
works better than a leader who is transparent, honest and mindful during such a
stressful time.

Continuity with Distribute your leadership and modularize work

Create a well-connected workplace environment by appointing leaders within

Employees
teams who can drive the workforce to work towards common outcomes
seamlessly. Breakdown bigger work goals into smaller projects so you can give
people micro-ownership. Give a positive perspective to the work constraints and
grow your in-house talent. 70% of the learning happens on the job. Ask you team
mates what their focus areas are to achieve the stated outcome. Identify

First during operational gaps to quickly ideate and solve issues collectively.

Conduct org-wide e-Town Halls and periodic check-ins with

Market
key owners
We cannot emphasize this enough: Daily/weekly/fortnightly check-ins with
teams and project owners are essential to understand how employees are

Turbulence
working towards the organization’s goals. Build a sense of solidarity by
connecting with dispersed teams already working remotely. Now more than
ever, org-wide communication is critical to create a feeling of connectedness;
double down and ensure there’s a steady exchange of information across the
workforce.

Read more on what our People Scientist has to say:
https://bit.ly/2xavy0n
Empathize...
With your customers, with your employees, with other businesses riding this
storm with you. The world is in it together and solidarity can create harmony;
we’ll need this more than ever to get back on our feet quickly.

Ensuring Business Continuity

Doubling
Consult and communicate with your employees everyday
Set up a Covid-19 cross-functional team to determine appropriate control
measures where you can consult with your employees and/or their
representatives, taking account of official information sources. The directives

Down on
you collate and provide at this time should be empathetic, focussing on both the
grim reality and silver lining, that encourages all measures are 100%
implemented by your workforce. Make this a daily practice for your Covid-19
team to provide clear direction, guidance, and open dialogue internally across
the organization to solve problems unitedly rather than in remote silos. Create a

Psychological
central content repository for your employees to access for FAQs and add
resources as and when relevant.

Safety as a
Limit your employees’ information consumption to reliable
resources
Prepare yourself to expect increased levels of stress, anxiety, fear, and panic
among your workforce with the avalanche of misinformation around

Community
Coronavirus. WHO’s recently released mental health considerations should be
foundational for organizations to proactively identify the correct sources and
proactively communicate the same to their employees. As the workforce socially
distances, make it a practice for HR to monitor, identify and neutralize any
inkling of panic felt across a remotely scattered workforce.

during a Encourage self care and positivity through role models

Pandemic
Assure your workforce that their health and safety is your priority. Drive
initiatives that promote exchange of self care narratives among your employees.
Managers can play a crucial role here in promoting practices where employees
are encouraged to step back from work and indulge in activities that prioritize
wellness. Directives will only work when this is also showcased by leaders and
managers for employees to emulate. During pandemics such as these, it is
important to evolve roles within the organization that de-prioritizes hierarchies
and establishes a connected community where everybody’s well-being is given
top priority.

Psychological Safety during Pandemic

Doubling Down on Psychological Safety
as a Community during a Pandemic

Consult and communicate with your employees everyday

Don’t just equip your employees with remote work tools. Setup internal and
share external helplines that employees can reach out to during ‘out-of-control’
moments. More importantly, assess your employees’ mental health periodically
either through informal 1:1s with reporting managers and the team or through
professional consultation.

Our people scientists recommends to check the following while measuring

employee sentiment:

If the employee feels personally responsible for the outcome (positive or

negative) in attaining a collective goal

If the employee feels part of a team that indulges in collective learning

processes

If the employee feels their team’s ambience promotes a climate of trust, calm,
and productivity

If the employee feels at ease expressing their point-of-view, disagreement,

distress within the organization

If the employee feels their quality of work has improved through regular
exchange of feedback and other communication

Psychological Safety during Pandemic

Tackling Start the day in a way that makes you smile together

Expect your employees quarantining or practicing social distancing to feel

isolated; human separation while necessary can exacerbate the feeling of

Isolation with
loneliness, detrimental to productivity and morale. Stay purposeful while
working remotely by experimenting and building routines to adjust to newer
ways of working. These routines must retain elements from existing ones. Set up
standard routines that involve teams start their day together with facetime and

Mental
encourage more team sessions that help build cohesiveness.

Resilience
Cultivate communities by encouraging new networks and
groups

Apply the concept of collective effervescence to create a sense of excitement

during
and unification on the same thought and purpose. Going remote takes away the
physical idea of a community. Here’s where you can figure out the tools and ways
needed to digitize your culture to help employees feel more connected to the
mission and vision. Identify groups within your organisation where employees
bond over common interests. Create communities that keep your teams

Remote Work
engaged and connected during the timeout. More than your People team,
nominate ambassadors across the organisations who can drive digital
communities within their pockets.

Tackling Isolation during Remote Work

Tackling Isolation with Mental Resilience
during Remote Work

Motivate your people to move

Take note that remote workers are stated to be more productive than their
counterparts. But they also run a high risk of developing unhealthy behaviour
patterns and habits that ironically dips their productivity over time. Nudge
employees to take frequent breaks to walk and move around during the day.
Promote simple digital fitness programs that employees can be incentivized to
be a part of while making it a fun activity.

Promote learning and skill building

Invest in learning & development especially with a sharp increase in digital

events taking place instead of the cancelled in-person ones. The market
slowdown may affect certain functions in your organisation who may have
reduced workload during this time. Host webinars and conduct training sessions
that employees can be a part of to upskill themselves remotely. Encourage them
to attend digital webinars and consume resources that will benefit them once
the downturn is over.

This is a great opportunity to optimize your internal processes and build

knowledge repositories that may come handy once the business goes back
to usual!

Read more on what our People Scientist has to say:

https://bit.ly/3a92eWU

Tackling Isolation during Remote Work

5 questions
to ask your
employees
right now
Now is the time to leverage remote tools to build
connected workforce communities and continuously
check on the pulse of your organization. How your
workforce emerges from this pandemic will brand your
organization as here to stay.
100+ employee-first organizations are using AI to
meaningfully connect with 300,000+ people
dispersed across the world. It’s time you do too.
1. Do you feel safe and supported?
Check: If your employees feel the organization has provided the
resources needed to comfortably transition to remote work
2. Are you able to collaborate?
Check: If your employees are able to work together with their team
and peers effectively
3. Do you sync regularly with your team?
Check: If your employees are part of regular stand-ups and
meetings to discuss their day with the team
4. Are you able to separate and balance your work and personal
schedule?
Check: If your employees feel their work from home schedule is
flexible enough to manage family and work commitments amidst
the pandemic
5. Do you talk to your manager 1:1 regularly?
Check: If your employees feel they are receiving adequate support
specifically from their reporting manager to adapt to newer work
models
5 questions to ask your employees right now
Navigating COVID-19:
3 Keys for Organisations to Come Out on Top

Since 2013, inFeedo’s mission has been

to make the voice of every employee feel
heard and valued by helping
organizations engage employees,
measure their experiences, reduce
top-talent attrition, and evolve their
workplace culture based on real-time
insights.

Our AI chatbot Amber is speaking to

more than 300,000 employees in more
than 50 countries, and has helped
CHROs & CEOs in 100+ enterprises
connect with every employee in a
personalized manner.

Meet Amber at infeedo.com to

know more.