QUOTE OF THE DAY

“If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry; worry fixes nothing.” –Ernest Hemingway

COVID-19 UPDATE

• At the time of reporting, The New York Times showed 1,045,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 60,945 deaths. Bing’s COVID-19 Tracker reported 1,067,445 cases in the U.S. (879,149 active cases) and 61,700 deaths. Cases globally are now more than 3.2 million.
• President Trump announced his first trip since the COVID-19 lockdown across the country with plans to visit Arizona next week. White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner took heat for his remarks that the government’s response to the pandemic was a “great success story.”
• The Dow fell again Thursday on reports of new unemployment claims, now topping 30 million nationwide. An analyst with Glassdoor suggested that the U.S. might be beyond the peak for new claims, but there was still a long way to go toward recovery.

USAA offers lessons on adapting to the “new normal.” See the full list of takeaways from Lauren Daniels, assistant VP for employee communications, including how to create meeting “buffers,” maintain workplace culture and empower leaders to be effective crisis managers.

Zillow gives employees option to WFH until the end of 2020. As you plan your recovery, make sure you seek input from employees and offer plans with flexibility for workers who are facing a wide range of hurdles during this crisis.

Zillow said in a statement:

“We’ve learned a lot over the past two months and have watched our teams pull together from their homes to keep the company moving forward. This situation has dramatically changed how we envision our future of work and we expect this experience will influence our decisions going forward.”

Google Meet offers free access in move to overtake Zoom. The video chat tool from Google is now free for anyone with a Google account—though the feature might not rollout to every user for a week or two. Meetings for free users won’t have a time limit until September when the meetings will be capped at 60 minutes.

Embrace nostalgia with your content efforts. Without the ability to create new videos and events, revisiting the good ole days might be the perfect tack for your organization. Here are some ideas for refreshing old campaigns and content.

Video is a crucial tool for engaging audiences during this lockdown. Moe’s Southwest Grill shares insight on how it is recognizing team members and reaching out to consumers during the COVID-19 crisis. Here’s where it is putting its focus.

Address how the workplace will change post-pandemic. Many organizations are looking at permanent changes to how they operate, and communicators must be prepared to educate and inspire around the future of the workplace. Here are some concerns you should be prepared to address.

Be transparent about who you are listening to for return-to-work timelines. Some states are planning to reopen, or have already reopened some businesses, but many employers plan to keep workers working from home. Make sure you explain your timeline and where you are getting your guidance from to stakeholders.

Prepare your colleagues and leaders for the changes businesses will adopt after this crisis. Many want to know how their futures will look once the dust settles and you can start preparing workers for a future that will include things like more automation and remote work. See a full list of possible changes to the workplace here.

Don’t be a Pollyanna on your recovery timeline. Employees need to hear from the top the facts about what a recovery will look like and require for your organization. The National Football League set an example with a note from Commissioner Roger Goodell.

NPR reported:

In the memo, which was sent to the NFL league office staff in New York, NFL Films and NFL Network on Wednesday, Goodell warned that the pandemic's economic effects "will be deeper and longer lasting than anyone anticipated. …"While we continue to prepare for a full 2020 season of NFL football, we also need to manage in a responsible way, adopting a flexible approach that responds to the current conditions in a way that minimizes the risk to our employees, our clubs, and the NFL's business," Goodell wrote in the memo.

Should you consider a tech solution for tracking COVID-19 among employees? Some workplace tech companies are starting to offer tools to help trace contact with workers who contract the virus, but privacy remains an issue for many around these tools. If you are planning to introduce a tech solution, be sure to address privacy and explain how more invasive procedures will help save lives and jobs.

Set clear guidelines on how you will monitor remote work. There have been plenty of headlines about employers spying on their employees with webcams and software during the crisis. Instead, you can use some of these techniques to monitor productivity and progress as teams work from home.

Virtual Conference Alert

Join us for PR Daily’s Media Relations and Measurement Virtual Conference May 14–15.

Learn from experts who are transforming their pitches and media relations efforts as well as their measurement strategies to meet the challenges presented by the current public health crisis.

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