COMMENT With our workforce adjusting to remote working and not having access to the daily contact we’re all used to, one of my priorities is keeping people motivated, connected and informed. Our current situation is unprecedented, and we find ourselves on a constant learning curve. But I hope that we may help others to navigate these challenging times by sharing some of the approaches we have taken at Avison Young.
As the Covid-19 outbreak continues to affect people’s lives and livelihoods, we are anticipating a rise in anxiety and uncertainty. Our daily routines have been overturned and we are all learning to adjust to a new normal.
Everyone’s situation will be different, with people facing a number of new challenges, whether that be working from home and balancing childcare, living alone, reduced income or adjusting to furlough leave. Therefore, the importance of providing a variety of levels of support for staff, while maintaining our business, our ethos of collaboration and working as team, is vitally important.
Managing stress
Like most companies, we already have several resources available to our workforce, ranging from mental health first aid volunteers to confidential counselling through our employee assistance programme. We have extended this to provide additional support via a global mental health seminar and made professional advice and helpful tips on managing stress and anxiety available 24/7 via a dedicated mental health hub on our intranet.
However, some people don’t feel comfortable openly discussing how they are affected, and therefore we have also recognised the need for inclusion on a different level. By this, I mean helping people feel part of the business both professionally and socially.
After the first week of remote working, we surveyed all UK staff on a variety of areas to find out if we were getting it right. While we were delighted to hear that a very high percentage of people were happy with the communications and guidance they were receiving, some of the comments informed us where we needed to dial up and down in certain areas.
We have also held a number of virtual town halls. This has given us the opportunity to update the business on key developments and explain why we have taken some decisions and actions. We also provided our staff with the ability to ask some very direct questions and get an immediate answer through open Q&A sessions.
Build connections
On the social side we are encouraging staff to build positive connections both in and out of work. Many of our teams have kept up a positive spirit and momentum through arranging virtual Friday drinks or online pub quizzes. The yoga and pilates classes, which were previously run face-to-face, have now been moved online.
While it is almost impossible to plan ahead in these unprecedented times, our aim has been to keep our employees informed on next steps and what is expected from all of us. Ambiguity can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety, so it is vital to be transparent and honest, even if this means sharing difficult news. As realities around Covid-19’s impact on our industry became clear, our updates from global, national and regional leadership around furloughs and pay reductions helped provide clarity to our staff and I have been overwhelmed by the support our difficult decisions were met with. Since the beginning, I have committed to a weekly all-staff video, which I use to share company updates and to ensure that staff feel connected to Avison Young’s leadership.
“Business as usual” may no longer be possible in its traditional sense of going out and meeting people, but now more than ever, we have a responsibility to serve and advise our clients. We are achieving this by doing everything we can to make sure our staff feel mentally strong.
Jason Sibthorpe is principal and president, UK, at Avison Young
