CPO perspective of resumed work tips
Editor’s note: This article comes from WeChat public account “Lakeside University” (ID: hubansanbanfu) , author: lakeside black people.
Whether it is a large enterprise or a small company that is in urgent need of resuming production, the resumption of work is a difficult balance between epidemic prevention and operation. But the pressure to resume work is not only in epidemic prevention, but also in the thrill of “people’s hearts.”
Affected by the epidemic, the cause-effect relationships that are common in the company team have changed, and the usual decision-making transmission and cultural communication have become very ineffective. How to properly schedule the return to work? What if employees have concerns and do n’t want to return to work? If these situations are not handled properly, they can entrench long-term distrust and tears in the organization.
To this end, we interviewed several corporate CPOs (chief human resources officers) and asked them to discuss how to arrange for resumption of work. Next, we will talk to CPOs about cultural landing, front-line empowerment, organizational structure adjustment and other topics.
01 Staffs insist on postponing resumption of work, safety of employees comes first
Narrator A: CPO of an Internet company
We have actually notified all staff to postpone work to February 10 during the Spring Festival. However, it was later discovered that the epidemic situation is still developing, and there may be risks in going to work on the 10th, so I am very persistent in delaying the return to work.
Our CEO is not in China. He has different feelings about the severity of the incident. He hopes that we can resume work on time on February 10.
At this point, I am more insistent. Fortunately, the CEO himself felt how serious the situation was when he returned to China. At the last moment, we reached an agreement to postpone the return to work. So up to now, our company with thousands of people has only a few hundred people in the office, and it is also because there are some things that need to be done by the company, and all other people work from home.
Whether it is to push forward or postpone the resumption of work, there is no right or wrong. Every enterprise must judge from its own ability to resist risks. From the perspective of employee safety and business operation, I think safety comes first. A few days ago, there was an infection incident when enterprises in the same city resumed work, which is a loss for the enterprise.
We chose to postpone the resumption of work after weighing the epidemic prevention situation and its impact on operations. This has a lot to do with the company’s business approach and digital office foundation. We can carry out remote work for a while, without causing fatal impact on our business. In addition, we must also evaluate our own protection capabilities, including the adequacy of anti-epidemic materials and whether protective measures are in place. We must not miss any details.
Sometimes, the CEO’s perspective is naturally biasedTo the business, including the impact and risk of the business, this is normal. After all, he has to bear the life and death of a company. However, under the premise of ensuring that the company does not have a fatal crisis, CPOs should pay more attention to people’s reactions, especially the psychological and mental state of employees during the crisis.
Of course, in this process, I still have two very important experiences. One is to stabilize the military mind as soon as possible. We sent a full staff letter early and made it clear that although the company was greatly affected, it would not lay off staff This bottom line of security is in place, and individual issues can be accepted.
The second is to make a long-term judgment and try not to change it. For example, at the time, the government said that the Spring Festival holiday was postponed to February 3, but we considered the situation of the epidemic situation and business judgment together, and directly said that we postponed to work on February 10. I see that many companies have changed several times before and after work hours, which will also cause distrust to employees.
02 What should employees do if they have concerns about returning to work?
narrator B CPO of a manufacturing company
Our company has the foundation of intelligent manufacturing, so when a customer proposes to be an intelligent epidemic prevention robot, regardless of the need for national epidemic prevention or business development, the company must have a team to rework and hurry to research and development.
At this time, there is a contradiction. The company and the customer must take the robot to the field to develop and test it. But on the other hand, whether it is the local government or the park administrator, the resistance to going to work on site is very great.
Last week we had a relatively small team to overcome various difficulties, settled in the park, and started to do R & D and testing. This is also our first batch of colleagues returning to work. Then it was a little awkward when it came to our HR department.
The R & D team has to settle in the company. They are scattered on different floors. At least someone in HR and the administrative department is responsible for providing everyone with protective materials and temperature measurement on each floor. There are more than 50 people in our administrative plus HR. There are more than a dozen people who have the scheduling requirements. When I asked everyone to sign up voluntarily, only two people signed up.
I did n’t understand it at the time. My colleagues in R & D risked their lives to do things. The next day, they would officially enter the park. They kept asking us how to get in, how to get the pass, how to take a temperature, etc.— These were not sure at the time, and I was very stressed.
I was also enthusiastic at the time, and I was soaring in the group of dozens of people, and my mood was a bit out of control. The next day, the employees will be at work, and HR can’t leave the office yet. I made a live broadcast lottery for those who had the conditions but did not sign up. I put a small note on the name of these people in a bucket, and some of them were shaken out, forcing them to go.
Later, I do n’t think it ’s appropriate, and I ca n’t help but choose. I took the initiativeThese colleagues talk, and I can understand them after talking. Because most of our departments are working mothers, many people’s pressure comes from home. For example, a female colleague has a child whose school is postponed, and no one at home watches the child. She wants to take her baby to work. However, if she plays the role of front desk, she has to face so many employees, take a temperature measurement, and wear a mask. She must not be able to take care of her children. Later, I calmed down, understood everyone’s concerns, and also made a one-to-one communication with them, and just opened the misunderstanding.
Later, when we arranged the pace of returning to work, we considered it more carefully, including the detailed situation of each employee’s personal and family conditions, and those who really have difficulties need to understand. At this time, it is important to encourage everyone’s fighting spirit, and it is also important to understand everyone’s situation. It is important to do your work more carefully, not across the board, or to make people chill.
Many companies face a dilemma when facing the rhythm of resumption of work. On the one hand, they must ensure the safety of employees; on the other hand, they must try their best to resume operations as soon as possible, and even seize the opportunities to get more development.
We also balance between the two, but I had a special discussion with our CEO, and soon we reached a consensus that the principle of employee safety comes first, and we can only try our best to ensure safety. Recover damages.
03 Batch management, response at different levels
Narrator C CPO of a retail company
When it comes to returning to work, colleagues in different departments and ranks have very different mentalities. The timing and pace of returning to work is very important. When employees are still in a panic situation, it is actually ineffective for you to let them return to work.
Our company and senior executives feel that there is no problem in returning to work. Except for those who cannot return from traffic control, the others will return to work on the 7th and 8th. The first meeting was held on February 10th. There is a large conference room. Everyone is about two meters apart. We are wearing masks to meet there. We also took photos and videos, which is a very meaningful commemoration.
But we also found a situation where the more “Kochi” people, the better the economic conditions in all aspects, the higher the fear and sensitivity of the return to work. Many middle managers, as well as senior technical staff, will tell you that if you must let me return to work, then I can only take time off, because I have old and young, and resuming work is a Great risk.
In addition, our front-line sales employees do not think it matters. If you ask me to return to work, I will return.
Target colleagues at different levels. For example, core executives, because most people are entrepreneurial veterans, have a deeper emotional connection with the company, can go forward and retreat, and share difficulties; for middle managers, especially those with short employment time, on the one hand, they talk to the company The cultural connection is not so deep, on the other hand they do face greaterDue to family pressure, we should try to arrange resumption of work in batches, or implement rest breaks and waiting for work; while the front-line employees are young and energetic, and have a high willingness to return to work, we must pay more attention to them and provide support for protection and safety.
For the overall resumption plan, our HR made a grading plan after doing a one-to-one mapping for all team members.
First of all, the overall plan is to decentralize and rotate the office. All teams are divided into three groups, and each group works on a weekly shift. The other two groups either work online or enter the post depending on business conditions.
Secondly, HR must go deep into the front line to do a lot of communication, and understand the current situation of each team. For example, some technical teams may not even be able to resume work for 10% of them. The one-third rotation plan Not applicable, be prepared to support online office.
From January 20th, we let employees pass daily reports daily to understand their condition, which laid the foundation for the resumption of work in the future: know where everyone is and their physical condition; and then meticulously communicate the resumption of work. Willingness, practical difficulties, etc.
So despite so many colleagues, each with their own concerns and reasons, in general we have made a plan to resume work in batches, and the implementation has been smooth. The impact of the epidemic on the company’s business cannot be controlled, but we have done our best to stabilize and continue the operation of the entire organization.