Well-being in an Economic Crisis: How Business Leaders Should Respond

*Originally posted on LinkedIn: Post Link

If you're a business leader in Sri Lanka right now, then the mental well-being of your employees should be at the top of your list of priorities.

They're spending 8 hours or more creating a disproportionate amount of value for you, so the least you can do is make sure those 8 hours aren't adding to their growing list of personal problems.

If you don't want them to turn into another brain drain statistic, give them every reason to stick by you through this economic crisis.

This means not just having conversations about a resilient mindset but also creating company policies that serve as tangible proof of your commitment to their well-being.

You may not be able to change the country's situation, but you can at least change how your business is responding to it.

Here are a few ideas:

🏠 Allow people to work from home. If they do everything in front of a computer all day, they should not have to worry about getting fuel to get to work.

💰 If you can't peg their salaries, at least provide some form of inflation relief whenever you can afford it. The gold standard would be a peg + inflation relief since inflation seems to be getting worse.

🫖 Conduct regular one-on-ones where you check up on each person, their workloads, how they're faring, and what kind of support they need. A short, friendly chat goes a really long way.

😓 Cut the fat from everyone's workloads by de-prioritizing tasks that are non-essential. Encourage your employees to speak up when they feel like they're overwhelmed and are at the risk of burnout.

🧠 Offer professional therapy that's either paid for by the company or is at least subsidized. You may not be equipped to deal with some of the problems your employees now have in their personal lives and that's where a licensed therapist can help.

📚 Offer to pay for continuing education and MOOCs so your employees can continue to upskill themselves and stay competitive. Incentivize their pursuit of knowledge in these times.

🥳 Find any excuse to celebrate something. A new client. A good deliverable. A successful knowledge sharing session. Break the pattern of endless bad news with some joy and respite.

How else can leaders support their employees through this crisis?