Marcia’s Leadership Q&A

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Email newsletter - June 30, 2020

Marcia answers leaders’ questions. Send your questions to md@mdaszko.com .

Q: During this time of uncertainty, we have been able to keep all of the employees. A few left to move or retire. I’ve been transparent about the unknown future, but as sales fluctuate, how can we approach keeping our employees if we can?

A: Cash flow is paramount for organizations. But this is also the time to examine your leadership and your culture. Based on those, leaders have choices to make. Some companies reacted and laid off employees immediately. Some companies put their employees’ well-being first and closed down quickly to keep their staff safe. Financially some have no-layoff policies and financially ensure their employees stability. After looking at many factors, leaders make decisions about how to keep the operation sustainable.

Some owners will suffer in the short-term to ensure the company survives. For example, sales may be slow now. But if business comes back in three, six or twelve months, managers do not want to lose staff that they have invested in. Some companies have cash reserve. Others have only enough for a month or two. Does it make sense to borrow? Have you applied for the government funding? If it looks like your business will survive but be temporarily doing less work, think about where you make investments. Gather the people together to learn and work together. Get ready to re-open. What needs to be different?

Q: We’re able to keep our employees in 2020, but we don’t have a lot for them to do since our customers are on hold. How should we use this time?

A: You’re very fortunate. Think ahead to 2021. Assess the reality of where you are today. Then gather the managers, your teams, or the most creative people in the company together. Lay out the issues, and ask the question, “How can we revive, thrive, and survive in 2021?” Put them in groups across the company (not by department) because people will speak up more easily. Have a few sessions.

Encourage people to share ideas, and let them be as wild as can be! A wild idea from Sandra may not work, but may lead Brian to think of an even wilder idea that can work! What does your company see as needs of your customers? What do they see as needs outside of your current customer base that you could meet? Create a new market. What are problems your company can solve? Get people working together.

Q: Next month, we may need to cut costs or furlough people. How do we do this?

A: If cuts need to be made, who can participate in those decisions? Depending on the size of the company or department, there may be options. Perhaps everyone can take a 20% pay cut and executives can take 40%. Can people take their vacation now? Are there people who want to go part-time? If there is no work that you typically do, can you use this time to invest in classes, train employees with more skills, or coach teams to prepare for the future? Can cleaning, re-organizing, repair work, painting, or redesigning the offices be done now? There might be another company that is booming. Can your employees go help out that company during their surge in business? Keep looking for options. If you have to do layoffs, can you or another profitable company support your workers to volunteer in the community? Keep being creative!

Dynamic podcast with InsightOut host: Billy Samoa Saleebey

It was a deeply moving experience to share ideas with Billy Saleebey about how to pivot leadership and organizations to thrive. Have a listen and explore your thinking about these provocative ideas. Enjoy!