The statements:
My daily life has been significantly disrupted because of this situation.
I feel exhausted.
I think about how this situation will affect my life going forward.
If most of your employees answered agree:
They are indicating that they are experiencing the impact of the COVID-19 situation on their personal life. Remember that employees may have changes to their daily routines and are likely concerned about this impact over time. While it is important to focus on the business and work impact, don't forget to encourage employees personally as well.
If most of your employees disagreed:
This indicates that they are able to maintain some consistency in their daily life or are not as concerned about the personal impact of this situation. This situation is rapidly changing so continue to encourage and support your employees during this time by focusing on their personal well-being along with work-related topics.
Best Practices for Leaders
Managers at Emplify has been collaborating with each other to share the best questions to ask remote employees in 1:1 meetings or through check-ins during the week. We wanted to share this as a resource for you:
How are you doing OUTSIDE of work?
How is your family doing right now? What’s going on at home that you’d like to share?
What’s one thing you’re grateful for, right now?
What’s one thing you’re doing to take care of yourself right now?
What’s one thing you are doing to take care of others right now?
What’s one new and interesting thing you’ve been thinking about lately?
What is something you came across recently that gave you hope or inspiration?
Related Resources We've Found Helpful
General COVID Prevention. Great article here on how to help prevent the spread of the virus at home or at work. And a CDC FAQ here.
Delivery/pick-up services. Getting food and essentials delivered or picked-up can be a great way to limit exposure. Shipt and Instacart are popular delivery services for grocery stores. Many also have their own direct pick-up option. Book your time ahead (many slots refresh at midnight EST), then add to your order digitally along the way. Here's an article about what to do and also not to worry about with those bags/packages. If you do go out especially if you cannot maintain social distancing, the CDC recommends a cloth mask. Also note that many essential stores also have special senior citizen hours.
Kids. This can be an especially big change for employees with kids (esp under age 12) at home. Here's a survival guide about how parents can approach it. Make sure you know which employees do have kids at home and offer flexibility to them. Here's great free educational content. And TV/movies. Big companies like Scholastic and Audible are also providing free content at this time. Also, don't forget to be intentional about talking with your kids about this season.
Exercise and moving around are an important part of self-care during this time. But going to the gym isn't an option, and even some outdoor spaces are crowded. So get into your backyard, or find more isolated walking locales. Or there are a lot of free at-home workout routines popping up even for beginners with no equipment.
Healthy eating also helps with stress and immunity. Here are some recommendations from WSJ.
Financial wellness. While US Congress passed a stimulus package that is now sending checks to many Americans (article/calculator about who, how much, when), this is a great time to educate your team on financial wellness. Ask HR if they already have this available for you to get your team as a benefit.
Perhaps the best thing you can do as a manager is regularly check in with your employees. Frequent shorter check-ins by video or phone work best!