5. Double-Down on Health and Nutrition.
Life in a pandemic is all about staying healthy.
By focusing on simple things like hygiene, stress management, exercise, and nutrition, we can increase the likelihood that our immune systems will be at peak performance, and thus more able to fight off infection in the event that we do come in contact with the virus.
But just as employee homes are not typically optimized for work, their kitchens usually aren’t stocked with the type of nutrition they need to fuel their workday. This is especially true for those who rely on their workplaces to provide healthy snacks, fresh fruit, or meals. That’s exactly why we launched our Work-From-Home Wellness Box, so that remote employees can perform at their best no matter where they happen to be.
6. Don’t Give Up on Taking Care of Your Team.
People are everything in your business – and it’s no different now.
Under normal circumstances, it is always a person or team of people who creates all the value at your company. In times of crisis, it will be your team that sees you through it.
That’s why it’s so important not to abandon the perks and amenities that signal that your employees are cared for and appreciated.
The fact is, most perks represent a fraction of your payroll expenses. Cutting them has more downside (in the form of plummeting morale) than upside (in the form of cost savings).
While no one knows exactly what the future holds, I am confident that we will get through this crisis. When we do, your people will remember how they were treated and the signals you sent.
7. Do All the Things You Wouldn’t Normally be Able to Do.
Here’s a practical example.
Under normal circumstances, I tend to do an early morning workout because that’s often the only time I can squeeze it in… but to be honest, it’s not ideal. The fact is, I’m usually sharpest in the early morning, and would love to have more time for focus work. Shifting to a short noon workout enables me to do that.
Try it out… and give your team the option to do the same. This is one of a few things you can do now that you really couldn’t a few weeks ago, when most of us were working out of offices. But it’s not the only example. You can also try working outside on a patio or balcony, or taking a 20 minute walk with your kid, dog or significant other in the middle of the day.
8. Continue to Innovate.
As I mentioned earlier, I believe that every crisis presents a unique opportunity to rise to meet it.
That’s why I’ve challenged every single leader on my team to continually think of new ideas, so that we can serve our Members in fresh, innovative ways. In fact, I start many of our daily leadership meetings by asking everyone to give me one crazy idea that they’d love to implement if they could because they know it would solve a major problem for our customers.
This practice has led us to new opportunities with customers we previously have not targeted or served (via our new Work-From-Home Wellness Boxes). For many businesses, surviving this crisis means coming up with new solutions and better ways to work.
9. Celebrate Wins.
Now is the time to celebrate the individuals and teams who are rising up to meet the challenge.
Even if the results aren’t as strong as you might have expected a few weeks, you can still celebrate extraordinary effort.
So many people are going above and beyond right now – tackling new challenges at work while dealing with school closures, cancelled life events like weddings and birthdays, and a general air of fear and panic. Recognizing their effort will go a long way to staying connected as a team.
We constantly share wins throughout the day via Slack – everything from a big sale, to a great customer experience, to a fantastic example of collaboration.
