QUOTE OF THE DAY Persistence has its own momentum. –Cheryl Strayed COVID-19 UPDATE At the time of reporting, The New York Times showed 1,670,101 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and 98,191 fatalities. Bing’s COVID-19 Tracker showed 1,701,772 cases and 99,613 deaths. The number of new cases of COVID-19 is rising in 18 states, but many Americans went ahead with holiday plans for Memorial Day weekend. Some health officials are calling for self-quarantine of partiers who ignored social distancing guidelines. Stocks rallied Tuesday as the New York Stock Exchange reopened its doors with limited staff. However, investors warn that the bump could be short-lived.
Now is a great time to address healthier work habits. With all the disruption organizations face because of this crisis, many intractable problems might be on the table for discussion and redress. Here are some ideas for promoting a healthy workplace for your team.
This is the moment for leadership. Here’s how one communicator breaks down how leaders have either raised their profile or taken a hit from the current crisis and their related responses. See how your efforts stack up with the competition. Facebook’s message on remote work contains new wrinkle: pay reductions. The company wants to tie compensation to the cost of living in different parts of the country as it evaluates the future of remote work. When sharing a potentially controversial plan, make sure to overcommunicate how it would be put into practice. CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the plan to CNBC: “We’ll adjust salary to your location at that point,” said Zuckerberg, citing that this is necessary for taxes and accounting. “There’ll be severe ramifications for people who are not honest about this.” Empathy is a top consideration when delivering layoff news. Here’s how Airbnb’s Brian Chesky checked this important box in his message to workers. Burnish your reputation with awards programs. You can’t pursue traditional outreach because of the COVID-19 crisis, but you should be focused on developing your brand and reputation to ride the future recovery. Here are some tips for picking a program that fits your needs. In today’s media landscape, every conversation is a public conversation. Major League Soccer has threatened legal action over leaked memos about the league’s restart schedule—a message that was leaked to reporters. Communicators should draft internal messages with an eye for public consumption. If news is too sensitive for a wide audience, extra security measures are required. A poor COVID-19 response could lead to employee exodus. While employees say they are unlikely to search for a new job during this current crisis, they indicated that poor leadership during this difficult time could force their hand. In a survey, 69% said they would look for new opportunities if they felt their employer wasn’t doing enough to protect workers. Trust and reputation are built on good measurement. You can’t evaluate whether you’re building trust or mortgaging your brand value without good measurement practices. Here’s what the experts have to say on more robust measurement protocols. Are we burning through social capital created before the COVID-19 crisis? Some leaders, including Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, worry that permanent WFH might be unsustainable when teams run through the goodwill and connection they built before the current crisis. Communicators should continue to experiment with how to build social connectivity. Slack is introducing new features—but won’t compete on real-time video messaging. Instead the company is pursuing tools for asynchronous video messages like Instagram-style video “stories.” Virtual Conference Alert Join us for Ragan & PR Daily's Social Media & Digital Communications Virtual Conference June 18-19 to learn brand strategies and best practices to meet the challenges of the new reality. Join our Crisis Leadership Board Ragan’s Crisis Leadership Board is the resource you need before, during and post-crisis. As a Board member, you have access to all back issues of this newsletter—as well as research, data, case studies, checklists, tip sheets, articles and other resources—plus a peer-to-peer discussion board and an all-access pass to the annual Crisis Management Conference. Sponsorship/Advertising Opportunities Contact Hannah Lavelle at HannahL@ragan.com with sponsorship and advertising inquiries. Pitch Us Have a great story to share about crisis communication or your own take on current best practices? Contact Editor Ted Kitterman at TedK@ragan.com. Sign Up Subscribe to Ragan’s Crisis Daily newsletter today. | 