We are living in a scenario of total crisis in the health, economic and social spheres. Faced with an unprecedented situation, there is no script that allows us to know which decisions are the right ones at any given moment. In this context, the interventions of the Minister of Labour are nonsensical for the employers who strive to keep jobs and for the workers affected by a redundancy or ERTE. Yolanda Díaz's speech is confusing, clumsy, conveys insecurity and lack of preparation.. Both the substance and the form fail, because a permanent smile is not appropriate when a message that is difficult to digest for the Spanish business community is being sent out. That reality and message must be combined is a rule of crisis communication that will become even more important when the coronavirus is remembered as a tragic experience.
Spanish companies have taken drastic measures very quickly to ensure their survival. The tourism sector, the entertainment industry, educational establishments and their suppliers and contractors have not had time to design the preparatory phase of the communication; the immediacy and scope of the total crisis has occurred without a script to guide the steps to be followed. I don't know when we will see the light, but we have to prepare the post-COVID-19 moment for those companies that have had to amputate a part of the body and here it is very important to have a well-defined communication strategy. because it is as important to manage well as to communicate it properly.
After-effects among employees
How to do it? The rehabilitation phase is vital. Employees who remain with the company after a restructuring will suffer impacts that affect their performance.They will have anxiety; they will feel guilty and insecure about the future and all this will be covered by a veil of loss of motivation.
These will be some of the consequences of an ERE or ERTE. To return to some semblance of normality in the period when the worst of this pandemic is behind us, it will require a professional team that is fully engaged. For their part, the company should have a business plan with realistic objectives and timelines that should be communicated to all staff.. In the post-COVID era, the figure of the leader will be more necessary than at any other time: employees will need to see the employer at the forefront and will look not only at his or her professional competence but also at his or her personality. The chief executive will need to be sensitive and empathetic to the team. and will have to get involved, recognise the situation, explain the solutions and set the course. This responsibility cannot be delegated and must be assumed by the chief executive, whether he or she likes it or not. This is not the time to pull in the HR department.
The internal transparency will also be essential in the process of restoring normality. If it is always necessary for an employee to be informed of what is happening, it will now be critical. A transparent, clear and timely message backed up by good management of the facts will be essential. Doors will need to be opened to genuine dialogue and questions will need to be met with answers and the option to cross-examine. Employees will need to know what is happening and where we are going.
The exemplarity will also be a fundamental requirement because after asking the staff to make great sacrifices, they will have to perceive that superfluous expenses are being cut while strictly necessary investments are being made. And, in order to get out of the ICU, it will be necessary to focus on the customer and ensure that the entire professional team sees the satisfaction of customer expectations as the key to the company's survival and success. This conviction must also be transferred to the rest of the company's relevant publics.
The medicine that will best help to accelerate a post-COVID-19 business recovery process will be the positivism and to motivate the most important asset of any company - its employees. And all this will have to be done with great a dose of patience and humanity. It won't be easy, but we will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and, hopefully, we will have learned something.
This article has been published in Voz Pópuli. You can access it by clicking on the following link link.
Lucía Casanueva
Managing Partner of Proa Comunicación