Dealing with Tough Times at Work–Part I

How can employers address employee relations issues stemming from the current economic downturn?  That’s a tough question with no easy answers.  But’s all employers need to be trying to answer the question.  In collaboration with one of my partners, Joseph McCoin, we’ll offer some thoughts that may help you answer the question for your workplace — or, at least, try to.

Generally speaking, there are three categories of issues that emerge from this question:  financial anxiety concerns, financial pain concerns, and employer-pride concerns.  Financial anxiety concerns is a catchall phrase for things impacting employees psychologically only (for example, fear of job loss instead of job loss itself, retirement worries, future education expenses, etc.)  Financial pain concerns go beyond an employee’s anxiety and deal with the impact of a tightening economy (for example, layoffs, less overtime and take-home pay, diminished buying power, no available credit, reduction of employee net worth, etc.).  Employer-pride concerns address the factors that drive an employee’s job satisfaction beyond wages and benefits.

Let’s first consider financial anxiety concerns.  Addressing employees’ unrealized fears about economic issues is difficult, but not impossible.  What are some viable tactics?

Providing employees with access to an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) — Most EAPs give employees counseling on financial issues, career concerns, family problems, and other stressors.  EAPs often involve 24-hour , seven days a week counseling by telephone and/or limited free face-to-face visits with a professional counselor approved by the EAP.  Make sure your employees are aware of your EAP.  Encourage them to use it.

Giving employees a “no layoff pledge” – Fed-Ex is perhaps best known for this tactic as a means of promoting employee loyalty and diminishing employee financial anxieties in times of economic turmoil.  This kind of pledge may have catch — may need to have a catch — but it sets you apart from what your employees see going on around them every day.  This pledge (even with a catch) is one of the reasons Fed-Ex has been listed on Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For 10 out of the last 11 years.

Offering employees access to retirement planning resources as a standard benefit — The company handling your 401(k) plan may offer this service as part of its package deal to you.  Even if there’s an extra charge, it will be worth every cent if it helps take away employee worries that interfere with their jobs.

Tomorrow, financial pain concerns will be the topic.