The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic is forcing organizations to adapt rapidly and decisively to its impact upon all their stakeholders. Employees in particular are affected. To maintain morale and productivity, the internal systems of your organization need to accommodate, as smoothly as possible, the new realities and uncertainties of the workplace. Here's just a few Coronavirus questions and answers and how to create policies for leave or time off for a company announcement due to Coronavirus.
DATABASICS has been working closely with our employee Time and Leave customers as they make what are often dramatic changes to their operations. Here are some of the things we are learning.
Above all, slow down. Really. Before you start creating new leave codes and sending out directives to your employees, make sure you have designed a coherent, sustainable leave/work-from-home policy. Yes, you need a policy yesterday, but what you don’t need is a policy that is constantly being modified as the ramifications emerge of your rushed decisions. You lose credibility with an unstable policy, and in a crisis like this, trust in management’s competence is essential to maintain.
How then should you proceed? You might want to consider something along these lines:
- Identify a core group of stakeholders and experts and create a Workforce Advisory Committee (WAC) tasked with drafting a leave/work-from-home policy in adherence to a strict schedule.
- Issue a provisional policy as necessary, adding that (a) the WAC has been formed, (b) it includes members who represent the employees’ point of view and interests, and (c) a detailed policy will be forthcoming.
- Have the WAC develop use-cases (the different scenarios that may arise with all employee types). Take into account external conditions like school closings and the need for parents to stay home with their younger children.
- Decide how policy proposals will be evaluated (Decision Factors). This will typically be a job for executive management. Examples of Decision Factors might be “We need to preserve as much cash as possible” or "We must pay our core staff as long as we can,” etc.
- Allocate a budget (or spending threshold) for supporting the policy. Again, executive management would be tasked with this.
- Test the use-cases (the WAC and executive management) against the decision factors and determine which use-cases will be accommodated and how.
- Now, issue the policy.
All of this can be accomplished in no more than a few days. Employees are informed that it is coming and the quality of the product will reinforce their confidence that management is up to dealing with this challenging situation.
DATABASICS provides cloud-based, next-generation Expense Reporting, P-Card Management, Timesheet, Leave Management, and Invoice Processing automation. Specializing in meeting the most rigorous requirements, DATABASICS offers the highest level of service to its customers around the world.
DATABASICS is relied upon by leading organizations representing all the major sectors of the global economy: financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, research, retail, engineering, nonprofits/NGOs, technology, federal contractors, and other sectors.
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