As leaders, we are all experienced in dealing with uncertainty. Uncertainty is part of the fabric of leading, driving and shaping a business. We need to have a vision, a plan and be ready to respond to factors that arrive upon us or, are thought to be heading our way. However, the level of uncertainty we are experiencing as a human race right now, globally, is unprecedented in our era of instant connectivity. The past 72 hours has seen me, like all leaders, filtering the bombardment of information and perspectives from news channels and official government websites, working with my shareholders and executives to make the best decisions we know how in a time of extreme fear. Our inboxes continue to fill with all manner of emails with the subject line “Coronavirus”, our diaries are shifting by the hour and our team are looking to us to provide safety – physical and psychological safety.
With my business owner hat on, I encourage you to ensure that you are protecting your people and your ongoing viability as an organisation.
With my leader hat on, I encourage you to lead with empathy, but be clear, concise and confident in the decisions you make.
And as a member of society, I encourage everyone to show compassion, to think about the most vulnerable members of our society and to ask yourself ‘what act of kindness can I do today’.
Our priority now at performHR is to work closely with our clients and key partners to ensure that leaders are supported, empowered and operating with as much confidence as possible at this time. Making workforce decisions in calm waters can be challenging enough. Making them in the environment we all find ourselves in requires the clear thinking time to work through and understand your options, balancing short-term horizons with longer term business viability. We want to stand with strength in the face of significant uncertainty and to do this, we need to be informed at every step.
We are responding swiftly through constantly challenging ourselves on what we can be doing to support and ensure the health and wellbeing of our own team, their families and our clients. As an organisation that has been purposefully designed to enable remote working, this is one area that functionally we are business as usual. However, with heightened awareness of the implications of this pandemic, isolation can be a trigger for other concerns, namely mental well-being. One way we are addressing this is to make a conscious effort to proactively reach out to both our remote working team and our clients more than usual. Connection during this time, as ironic as that is with the social distancing recommendations, is vital. Our team at performHR have driven their own ideas on how to stay connected, maintain our vibe and continue to operate with us much energy and vibrancy as our clients have come to love about working with us.
Access to the right HR support is now more vital than ever. Making the best strategic HR decisions for your business, your people, your stakeholders, could be the key factor in navigating through this storm. You need people in your corner, ready to listen, to guide and challenge decisions to ensure you execute across a range of people challenges from a position of clarity and a focus on balancing the immediate needs with the coming months.
At times like these, we will reach out to ask if you are okay, to offer a hand and connect you to our network where we can help to solve any immediate pain points. We will be able to listen to what is top of mind and to help where you need with making decisions regarding workforce planning and management, identifying efficiencies, cost saving opportunities and assisting you in navigating the complex regulatory requirements. Our collective focus has to be on protecting our people and protecting our businesses, however, don’t forget to protect what’s positive in your culture. When making the decisions you need to make over the coming days and weeks, also pay homage to the collective spirit of your team and nurture that.
On behalf of the team at performHR, we want you to know we are right there with you.
Lyndell Fogarty
CEO of performHR