Tag: COVID-19

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Hoffer Plastics’ ‘family first’ philosophy puts people over profits

Hoffer Plastics, hourly employees

Like many companies facing massive disruption as COVID-19 spreads across the world, Hoffer Plastics Corp. had to make hard decisions.

Among the tough choices was fulfilling its customers’ needs while simultaneously protecting the health and welfare of its employees. As a global supplier of custom injected plastic parts used in everything from baby food pouches to lawnmowers, deadlines still had to be met despite the growing pandemic.

Most of the company’s 350 employees were working in three shifts at Hoffer’s 360,000-square-foot plant in the Chicago suburb of South Elgin. They couldn’t simply tuck a laptop under their arm and manufacture blender parts or speaker covers from their dining room table. They had to clock in every day as COVID-19 spread, seeking direction and support from company leaders.

 Also read: Cut hours of admin work each week and automate how your staff clocks in and out.

Hoffer’s executive team acted quickly to calm workers’ anxieties by relying on an enduring “family first” philosophy that has served the company from its humble beginnings in 1953 to an internationally recognized, award-winning plastics manufacturer today.

Employees are part of the family

As a family-owned and operated company, Hoffer’s leadership has consistently applied family values to its operations. And its employees, most of whom are hourly, are considered to be an extension of the Hoffer family.

The company is now led by second-generation family member William Hoffer along with his children, known as the “G-3” (for third generation) in executive leadership roles. Daughter Charlotte Hoffer Canning is Hoffer Plastics’ chief culture officer and has been instrumental in leading the organization through the pandemic.

“I may be biased but family was our advantage in these last six months,” said Hoffer Canning, the granddaughter of founders Bob and Helen Hoffer. “Our first core value is family, and family chooses one another over everything else. The focus of our decisions was on the safety and well-being of our people.”

Protecting jobs

As company leaders, Hoffer Canning added that their primary duty was to look after the welfare of their employees.

hourly employee, Hoffer Plastics“The most important thing for us was to remain clear that it was our job to protect people over profits, and remain visible and transparent about the decisions we were making,” she said. “We were all navigating the unknown, but we were on the same page that we wanted to keep people employed.”

In the early days of the pandemic Hoffer executives met consistently to establish their approach to addressing employee concerns and keeping the business operational. As chief culture officer, Hoffer Canning was keenly aware of employee morale.

“Aside from communicating regularly, often two or three times a week, we made sure to lead our teams with empathy, recognizing that everyone is in very different places with how they are experiencing and responding to the pandemic,” Hoffer Canning recalled.

Listen, learn and lead

Simply listening to their employees was among the most important factors considering that each of them had their own perspectives regarding COVID-19, Hoffer Canning said.

“We knew that we had to understand that everyone was having very different experiences in their lives,” she said. “Our first choice was to listen closely, be supportive and empathic in places we could be. We checked in, held listening sessions and added a corporate chaplain to visit with our people. Our attitude was that we could get through it together.”

Case study: Building a safety policy was vital to Shawmut Design and Construction’s health

Considering all the challenges that accompany social distancing and employee safety in a manufacturing plant, the design of Hoffer’s sprawling 24-acre facility became an advantage as leaders reconfigured the building’s layout.

“We have a mature facility, and our building is segmented into focused factories, which has been viewed at times as a disadvantage in manufacturing today,” Hoffer Canning said. “Over the past few months, it has actually been an advantage and assisted greatly with many regards to maintaining proper social distancing. The only place we struggled with social distancing were the break rooms but we now have plexiglass barriers on our tables to maintain a safe environment for eating as well as break times.”

Keeping three shifts operational

Despite the potential roadblocks COVID-19 presents in a large manufacturing facility, Hoffer has maintained its pre-pandemic pace.

“We run three shifts and have run three shifts all the way through COVID-19, of course with new protocols in place,” Hoffer Canning said. “Because we follow good manufacturing practices very closely, our workforce was already used to following safety and health guidelines.”

Unlike many manufacturers that have been forced into layoffs, Hoffer is hiring.

“We are finding great candidates to join our team,” Hoffer Canning said. “Some of the positions require more experience than others, but our main focus is on hiring for ‘humble, hungry and smart.’ We will give you the tools, train you and from there, it’s up to you to work your way up.”

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COVID-19 and protected concerted activity

employment law, labor law, overtime records

Let’s suppose you’re a health care organization that terminates an employee after the employee refuses to wear a shared isolation gown and after the employee starts a group discussion with co-workers about the risks and dangers of shared gowns.

If that employee files an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the termination unlawfully violate his right to engage in protected concerted activity under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, do you win or lose the case?
According to this recent Advice Memo [pdf] published by the NLRB, the employer wins and the employee loses.
Although Charging Party discussed the gown issue with Charging Party on March 30, 2020, prior to drafting letter to the Employer, there is no evidence that the object of the conversation was initiating or inducing or preparing for group action in the interest of employees, as opposed to simply discussing that the nurses now had to share gowns. Further, Charging Party letter is solely focused on personal disgust at the notion of sharing gowns and fear for own and family’s safety, which believed to be at risk. …
Even if we credit Charging Party that a group discussion and plan of action to not share gowns that evening occurred, there is no evidence that the plan went any further than that.… [T]he employees here never took their concerns to management as a group. And, although Charging Party spoke to Charging Party about discharge which appears to have motivated Charging Party to take a stand that evening during shift, there is no evidence that they formed a plan of action together. Nor is there evidence the Employer considered Charging Party’s solo speech and refusal to work to have been concerted.
Furthermore, although Charging Party discussed the gown sharing issue with coworkers on March 30, Charging Party alone confronted management regarding the issue on March 29 and 30 and did not claim on those dates to be speaking on behalf of anyone. While Charging Party invited two employees in the parking lot to join a protest that evening, Charging Party informed them that it … would move forward with or without them. Nor is there evidence that any other employee formed a plan with Charging Party to refuse to work.… No employee requested Charging Party to act on their behalf or authorized to do so; simply decided on their own to represent coworkers.
These conclusions are consistent with the Board’s latest statements on lone-wolf activity, that a “lone wolf” can only engage in concerted activity, that “the totality of the circumstances … support[s] a reasonable inference that in making the statement, the employee was seeking to initiate, induce or prepare for group action.”
That said, employers should tread very carefully before terminating an employee for raising safety-related issues related to the current pandemic (or otherwise). The termination could violate OSHA. It could violate state law. And, in the correct circumstances, it could violate the NLRA (this case notwithstanding). It also sends the wrong message to your employees—that you don’t care about their safety, which is the absolutely wrong message to send while we are living with COVID-19.
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States should follow Illinois’ lead in making it a felony to assault an employee over a mask rule

essential workers; workers' compensation, mask

Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster … and assault?

Sesame Place is the latest employer to have an employee assaulted for trying to enforce a mask rule. It joins more likely suspects such as Target, WalMart (which has said that for the protection of its employees it will not require them to enforce mask rules), and McDonald’s (of which 44% of its employees report being physically of verbally assaulted by a non-mask-wearing customer).

Illinois is now the first state to enact a law targeted at this abhorrent behavior.

The law amends the definition of “aggravated battery” to specifically include an offense targeted at an employee who is “performing his or her duties, including, but not limited to, relaying directions for healthcare or safety from his or her supervisor or employer or relaying health or safety guidelines, recommendations, regulations, or rules from a federal, State, or local public health agency.” In layman’s terms, a customer who attacks an employee because that employee is trying to enforce a COVID-19 mask or other safety rule faces two to five years in prison.

According to a statement put out by the office of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, “This provision sends the message that it’s vitally important for workers to be both respected and protected while serving on the front lines.”

Other states should follow Illinois’ lead and enact similar legislation. Employees need protection from these dangerous reactions to basic health and safety rules. I don’t believe your employees should be your front-line enforcers or mask and other safety rules. As I wrote three months ago, employers shouldn’t “leave it up to untrained employees to try to enforce these rules and potentially deal with escalating hostilities and violence.” Instead, employers should “deploy trained personnel (ideally security, but at least someone at management level) to enforce a mandatory mask rule in your business, and also train all other employees not to engage and instead to summon a designated responder.”

Still, even in the best of circumstances an employee may be put in harm’s way by an irrationally dangerous customer. No employee should face the risk of bodily injury just for telling someone to wear a mask. Laws like that enacted by Illinois send the message that this special brand of misbehavior should not and will not be tolerated.
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Quarantine of Indians’ pitcher is a teachable moment in handling irresponsible employees during this pandemic

COVID-19, coronavirus, public health crisis

The Cleveland Indians have sent pitcher Zach Plesac back to Cleveland from their current run of road games for breaking the team’s COVID-19 protocols.

According to Cleveland.com, MLB security personnel caught the pitcher returning to the team’s hotel early Sunday morning after he had gone out with friends. The team has its own coronavirus code of conduct, which in part required Plesac to obtain permission before leaving the hotel. According to ESPN, the Indians hired a car service to return Plesac to Cleveland so that he would not share an airplane with his teammates and potentially place them at risk. The team’s management has said that he will remain quarantined until he receives two negative tests.

Bravo to the Indians for doing what they feel they have to do to keep their employees safe and the team playing games.

Your business may not be able to dictate how your employees spend their free time, but you can hold them to consequences if they choose to act irresponsibly when “off the clock.”

We are living through a pandemic. Every employee has a responsibility to their employer, their co-workers, and the business to make sure that they do what they can to avoid brining COVID-19 into the workplace, and every employer has the same responsibility to take reasonable steps to prevent an at-risk employee from entering the workplace when it’s discovered.

These are strange times for sure, and I will not fault any employer that errs on the side of caution in how it manages its employee respective to mitigating workplace coronavirus exposures. I’m not advocating for, or in favor of, employer monitoring of employee off-duty conduct. If, however, irresponsible, reckless or dangerous behavior comes to an employer’s attention, it shouldn’t ignore it in the name of privacy either.

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Who pays for employer mandated COVID-19 tests?

flu season coronavirus, fever
The inevitable has happened. One of your employees has tested positive for COVID-19.
You do what you’re supposed to do. You clean and sanitize your workplace.
You communicate with your other employees to let them know that you’ve had someone test positive. You reinforce all of your coronavirus safety rules, protocols and procedures. And you require the COVID-positive employee to isolate and not return to work per CDC guidelines.
Those guidelines recommend that a positive employee not return to work for either of: 1) being three days fever-free, respiratory symptoms have improved, and it’s been at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared; or 2) the receipt of two negative tests at least 24 hours apart. You opt for the latter, believing that negative tests will provide you and your employees better confidence that COVID-19 will not reenter your workplace when that employee returns.
Who pays for these coronavirus tests?
We have several of federal statutes, old and new, that guide the answer.
As to the cost of the testing itself, we look to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Both the FFCRA and the CARES Act contain requirements that group and individual health insurance plans cover COVID-19 diagnostic testing without cost-sharing, co-pays, or deductibles. This requirement not only includes the cost of the test itself, but also the cost of any related office, urgent care, emergency room, or telehealth visits.
Second, if for some reason an employee is not covered by applicable health insurance, EEOC guidance strongly suggests that the ADA requires employers to cover the costs of COVID-19 testing. The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Examinations of Employees Under the ADA provides that an employer must pay for all medical-exam related costs when an employer requires the examination because the employer reasonably believes the employee poses a “direct threat.” According to the EEOC, “COVID-19 poses a direct threat.” Therefore, the ADA would require an employer to cover the costs of diagnostic testing related to keeping that direct threat out of the workplace.
What about compensation for taking a COVID test? Is the time an employee spends taking a COVID-19 test (including the time spent traveling to and from the testing site) “working time” such that it must be compensated? The answer to this question is likely “yes.” While there is little guidance on this issue, we can look to a 1997 opinion letter by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which states, “[A]ttendance by an employee at a meeting during or outside of working hours for the purpose of submitting to a mandatory drug test imposed by the employer would constitute hours worked for FLSA purposes, as would attendance at a licensing physical examination during or outside of normal working hours.” If time spent submitting to a mandatory drug test or a physical or examination counts as “hours worked” for which an employer must compensate an employee, then it’s safe to assume that a required COVID-19 test falls into the same category.
Simple questions, complex answer. Bottom line, pay for the testing if the employee lacks health insurance to cover it, and pay the employee for the time spent related to the testing. It’s not only the law, but it’s also just the right thing to do.
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How have employers responded to COVID-19?

A recent survey of businesses reveals a variety of trends about COVID-19 in the workplace.
    • Nearly 6 out of every 10 employers has had an employee test positive for COVID-19 (double the number from April).
    • 92 percent require on-site employees to wear masks in common areas and mandate physical distancing.
    • 93 percent have enhanced cleaning protocols.
    • More than 1 in 2 are taking employees’ temperatures and performing other daily health screenings, while only 2 percent are requiring (legal but impractical) COVID-19 diagnostic testing and 1 percent (illegal) COVID-19 antibody testing.
    • 73 percent are allowing employees to work from home based on a fear of contracting COVID-19 without any risk factors.
    • 20 percent are discouraging domestic travel, and nearly 45 percent are requiring employees to work remotely or take a leave of absence for a 14-day quarantine upon their return.
    • Despite all of these measures, 21 percent of employers have received a COVID-19 related complaint from employees.
What has your experience been? On track with this survey? Or different? Please share in the comments below.
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Building a safety policy was vital to Shawmut Design and Construction’s health

Shawmut Vitals, mobile technology, HR technology, safety, COVID-19 construction

Like many companies Shawmut Design and Construction faced the dilemma of protecting the health and well-being of its employees as the COVID-19 pandemic tore through the U.S. workforce.

While the safety of its 900 employees was Shawmut’s top priority, no one-size-fits-all solution was evident. Shawmut’s staff includes in-office employees as well as workers in the field at sites across the country.

With a diverse portfolio of jobs including cultural and historic buildings, academic institutions, commercial properties, luxury homes and Major League Baseball stadiums, Shawmut’s executive team had to act quickly and decisively to assure that their workers could function safely while still productively maintaining their commitments to hundreds of clients.

Shawmut, COVID-19, pandemic
Les Hiscoe, CEO, Shawmut Design and Construction

“We experienced added complexities on many projects that continued to work right through and were not impacted by shutdowns,” said Les Hiscoe, Shawmut’s CEO since 2015. “We had to make real-time adjustments on the fly to keep our people safe first and foremost and to make sure we continued to deliver for our clients.”

Also read: Whether you have a staff of 10 or 10,000, scheduling is easier with Workforce.com software

One of Shawmut’s core values even before the pandemic struck was “find a better way.” Company leaders realized early on during the pandemic that making decisions on the fly was not sustainable and determined the “better way” was developing solutions internally.

Initially partnering with trade unions, industry peer groups and other construction companies, Shawmut developed its COVID-19 safety plan to minimize coronavirus exposure and risk across all job sites. The company soon rolled out safety protocols as well as a COVID-19 risk assessment and response plan to project sites across the country, Hiscoe said.

Shawmut’s leadership looked inward to develop a technology-driven solution that addresses worker safety as well as on-site productivity. Built in-house, Shawmut’s IT, safety and marketing teams developed Shawmut Vitals, a custom technology platform designed to track COVID-19 symptoms and manage contact tracing to minimize and control infectious disease spread.

Implementing a vital technology solution

Shawmut staff quickly took the platform to market, transforming the idea from concept to rollout in under two weeks, Hiscoe said.

“The platform allows employees and subcontractors to self-certify daily health screenings by scanning a job-specific QR code that pulls up a health survey to fill out,” Hiscoe said. “If an individual is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or has been exposed to someone who is either infected or at risk, the individual is flagged for further care and action.”

The platform reduces friction points as people enter a site. Shawmut Vitals also frees a site superintendent’s time since the data is integrated into Shawmut’s systems, resulting in thorough recordkeeping and generating reports that previously had been done by hand.

Virtual communication in the office and on site

Frequent communication played a huge role in Shawmut’s safety response and employee engagement when offices began reopening, Hiscoe said.

“We held daily executive team huddles that begin with conversations around the best ways to keep our people safe, sharing successes and lessons learned across our job sites and regions,” Hiscoe said. “This also includes connecting with our Virtual Crisis Command Center, a COVID-19 crisis team that is constantly monitoring developments and helping to guide actions. We can provide constant guidance to our on-site client and office teams and ensure we are following all federal, state and CDC recommendations.”

Shawmut’s Future of Work Task Force also evolved out of their meetings.

Created to implement the best processes, systems and technology as employees began returning to the organization’s 10 offices, the task force is made up of cross-region, cross-department staff members.

The team meets virtually every week to develop thorough office-specific plans that adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state and local government guidelines to keep everyone as safe as possible. Each office has a core team that examines the specific needs of that space and workforce to ensure every detail is taken into consideration, enabling staff to work safely and efficiently.

Hiscoe added that before entering the office, employees complete a health screening using Shawmut Vitals. This not only prevents those exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or may have been exposed from coming into the office but also helps with contact tracing. Offices are also clearly marked with signs including traffic flow, conference room capacity limits and common-area closures.

Those who are not ready to come back to the office utilize Shawmut Flex, Hiscoe said, a flexible work program allowing teams to work remotely.

“Having flex options is rare in the construction industry so Shawmut was uniquely positioned to be able to transition to work from home arrangements,” he said.

Following the rules

The pandemic has had a significant effect on how Shawmut employees work together on their job sites, Hiscoe said. They identified several new requirements: 

  • Self-awareness

“We encourage any individual who is feeling sick or who is presenting any symptoms of a cold, flu, or COVID-19 to stay home and/or seek medical attention. We enforce a 100 percent zero-tolerance policy that does not allow for anyone showing symptoms to be on the job site.”

  • Hygiene

All projects provide access to hand washing stations, which are spread at least 6 feet apart to maintain social distancing. Hand washing stations have corresponding signs with proper hand washing and hygiene techniques.

  • Personal protective equipment

All standard requirements apply. When two workers are operating near each other, face shields, safety glasses, hard hats and face masks are mandatory. PPE is disinfected before brought in personal vehicles or to homes.

  • Site safety requirements

A COVID-19 officer is on site 100 percent of the time to enforce all site safety rules, including the twice-daily cleaning of high-contact and common areas, pre-task planning meeting, health screenings, limiting of only essential personnel on the site and frequently cleaning high-traffic areas, equipment, and tools and devices. 

  • Communication

The team hosts toolbox talks related to COVID-19, distributes regularly written communications on best practices to job-site teams and reinforces all messages with signs in English and Spanish.

  • Emergency procedures

In the event of possible COVID-19 exposure, Shawmut teams will strictly follow CDC regulations.

Hiscoe added there is no wiggle room with Shawmut’s procedures either in office or on a job site. “Alongside my executive leadership team and virtual crisis team, we’ve made our enhanced safety protocols mandatory for both our staff on site and in our offices,” he said. “We’ve shared our enhanced protocols virtually with our partners and any guests who may need to access our offices making them fully aware of our mandatory procedures.”

Keeping in contact with all employees

Hiscoe said the pandemic has severely disrupted his own schedule and halted all travel for him.

“As a quintessential extrovert, this has been a challenge in an age of social distancing, both professionally and personally. As a leader, I pride myself in making connections with our people, projects and partners.”

Hiscoe’s limited travel schedule established unforeseen ways to manage his stress.

“I made sure to regularly work out, which helped immensely. And during quarantine, I have really enjoyed being home with my family and having dinners together.”

Knowing who is where and when is crucial to their safety and well-being. With staff working in an office, remotely or in the field, automate how your employees clock in and out with Workforce.com’s GPS-enabled time clock app that works everywhere in the world.

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SAFE TO WORK Act would offer employers a significant shield from employee COVID-19 lawsuits

COVID-19, coronavirus, public health crisis
Earlier this week, Senate Republican introduced their $1 trillion COVID-19 economic stimulus package. Among other proposals the bill contains the SAFE TO WORK Act [pdf], which would provide employers a significant shield from liability for lawsuits related to coronavirus exposure by requiring gross negligence or willful misconduct that actually causes a personal injury before liability could attach.
Employers would receive significant protections from employment-related COVID-19 lawsuits brought by employees.
If passed, the law would provide significant protections to employers under OSHA, the FLSA, the WARN Act, Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, and GINA.
Generally, in any action, proceeding, or investigation resulting from or related to an actual, alleged, feared, or potential exposure to coronavirus, or a change in working conditions caused by a law, rule, declaration, or order related to coronavirus, an employer would not be subject to any enforcement proceeding or liability if the employer—
  • Was relying on and generally following applicable government standards and guidance
  • Knew of the obligation under the relevant provision; and
  • Attempted to satisfy any such obligation by: (i) exploring options to comply with such obligations and with the applicable government standards and guidance (such as through the use of virtual training or remote communication strategies); (ii) implementing interim alternative protections or procedures; or (iii) following guidance issued by the relevant agency with jurisdiction with respect to any exemptions from such obligation.
The law would also provide liability for any workplace coronavirus testing, except for personal injuries caused by the gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the employer or another person.
The law would prohibit a finding of joint employment status or of an employment relationship under any of the above noted statutes and the NLRA, ERISA, and the FMLA, if an employer provides or requires—
  • Coronavirus-related policies, procedures, or training
  • Personal protective equipment or training for the use of such equipment
  • Cleaning or disinfecting services or the means for such cleaning or disinfecting.
  • Workplace testing for coronavirus.
  • Temporary assistance due to coronavirus, including financial assistance or other health and safety benefits.
Finally, the law would amend the WARN Act to make clear that employers are not required to provide WARN notices for shutdowns or mass layoffs that are “a result of the COVID–19 national emergency.”
This law will put a premium on employers understanding, implementing, and enforcing required and recommended COVID-19 safety rules and protections. If you don’t already have these in place your workplace, (1) why not, (2) what are you waiting for, (3) you now have quite the incentive to do so, and (4) you really shouldn’t need this economic incentive to protect the health and safety of your employees.
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If your employee treats COVID-19 like a hoax

terminate firing

At the always fabulous Ask a Manager, Alison Green posts the following question:

One of my employees has been vocal about the coronavirus being a hoax. I had to have a talk with him during our last few days in the office at the end of March because he was openly criticizing and mocking coworkers for “being afraid of the flu” and practicing social distancing. While the rest of us isolated and worked at home, he went on two different vacations out of the state and did not isolate upon returning as required.

We’re now phasing people back into the office, and he believes that all of the safety guidelines are violating his freedom. He still won’t practice social distancing without being told, he will not wear a mask without being told, and he even planned another vacation when the company has asked us not to travel except in the case of emergencies. …

I am at an absolute loss regarding how to get this employee to take these safety precautions seriously when he still sees the coronavirus as a political issue instead of a public health issue. I am very worried that he will bring the virus into the office and get others sick. Do you have any advice for handling this employee and protecting the rest of my staff?

Alison suggests that this employer “should be prepared to fire him.” I couldn’t agree more, and would go one step further and just say that this employer should fire him, period.
COVID-19 is not a hoax, it’s a public health emergency. There are rules businesses must follow as a condition to reopen and stay open during this pandemic, including the maintenance and enforcement of certain basic safety guidelines such as social distancing and face masks.
If an employee is refusing to follow these rules for any reason, that employee is putting the health and safety of the business’s employees, customers, other visitors, and their family members at risk. That employee has no place remaining employed. If you’ve counseled and warned and the behavior hasn’t changed, you’ve done all you can do.
If, as Alison suggests in her answer, you want to offer the employee one final warning, I’m okay with that. This employer, however, has done everything it can to secure compliance with its safety rules, and the employee has still failed to comply. If the employee genuinely believes that COVID-19 is a hoax and that safety rules are “violating his freedom,” nothing an employer says or does will change his mind or secure compliance. It will be a constant battle against an employee who refuses to believe science and do what is necessary to protect himself and others.
I see little choice other than pulling the plug, terminating the employee, and letting him take his backward and dangerous thinking elsewhere.
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The role of the chief people officer is changing in 2020

In the past, when a business encountered a crisis, the CFO was beside the CEO to help handle it. The current state of the world — from the global pandemic to the nationwide protests about systemic racism — has given the chief people officer a similar opportunity. 

While the chief people officer may handle return-to-office basics like providing masks and stocking an ample supply of hand sanitizer, they also face the more daunting specter of easing the stress of employees as they reintegrate into the workplace. 

“A lot of questions that might have been seen as questions of etiquette or personal choice are now questions of safety,” said Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post and founder and CEO of Thrive Global, a behavior change tech company that has been working with many HR leaders during the pandemic. 

Also read: Give managers the time they need to sharpen up their all-around skills

Chief people officers are dealing with the fundamental questions of putting people first, and now that is no longer abstract but very real for companies. “The health and well-being of employees for many companies was seen as a nice-to-have. Now more than ever, it is essential for the success of an organization, and that’s why HR leaders have such a critical role to play,” Huffington said. 

Addressing the well-being of essential workers

Employees are looking at their workplace and employer as a source of trusted information and to help them with mental health solutions, Huffington said.At Walmart, Thrive Global is making its behavior change platform available for Walmart associates — including frontline teams at stores and distribution centers — and their families across the US.

If a company doesn’t address the stress of employees — whether that stress is caused by health concerns, financial worries or something else — the bottom line and the survival of the company itself may be impacted, she said. Like Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky memorably said, she added, “Every CEO is a health CEO now.”   

“HR leaders no longer have to convince the C-suite that employee well-being and mental health matters,” Huffington said. “But now comes the challenge of moving from awareness to action, as they must help their companies go from knowing what they need to address to actually doing it.”

We need to normalize talking about our mental health in the workplace, according to Ellyn Shook, chief leadership and human resources officer at Accenture, one of the companies Thrive has worked with. Having senior leaders set the tone for the rest of the organization is key to this goal.

“The most senior leaders in the company [can share] their challenges and how they are recharging and practicing self-care, because those are the things that actually pay off around mental wellness,” she said. 

Also read: Unify those far away workplaces with global mobility tools

Relationships and conversations with other executives

The global leadership team at Bank of America has had to be incredibly nimble, creative and innovative in response to the challenges that 2020 has presented, according to Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer at Bank of America, another company Thrive has partnered with.

Also read: Human capital management: Enriching your human resources

“From the imperative to keep our 210,000 employees safe and healthy to recognizing the need for even more focus on diversity and inclusion, events of the past six months have led to more collaboration, learning and sharing between myself and my C-suite teammates than ever before,” she said. 

Bronstein also highlighted the importance of CEO support as the company moves forward to support a healthy workforce. Support from Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan has allowed Bronstein and her human resources team to take bold, swift actions as it responds to the pandemic and the health and safety concerns that employees may have. 

These actions include “no layoffs through 2020 due to the pandemic, free, virtual access 24/7 to doctors, $100 a day to cover child- and elder-care expenses and a variety of resources to support the mental health of our employees and their families,” Bronstein said.

Shook also stressed the importance of building trust with other key stakeholders in the company. Executives working together to lead responsibly can help a company and its workforce come out of a crisis stronger and more resilient. 

“As we discuss physical safety and psychological resiliency, returning to the workplace and actions to fight racism in our organizations, an underlying theme of many of my conversations with other [C-suite executives] is humanity and the opportunity and obligation that leaders have to elevate their most important source of competitive differentiation – their people – especially during times of crisis,” Shook said. 

The opportunity to create lasting change 

The lessons organizations have learned from dealing with these crises will have a lasting impact on how they approach HR matters moving forward, Bronstein said. 

At Bank of America, she added, members of the C-suite will continue to collaborate with each other, “[maintaining] our focus on cultivating a diverse and inclusive culture, and offer programs, initiatives and partnerships that drive change.”

Shook compared the current state of possibilities for HR leadership to that of finance executives during the 2008 financial crisis. The chief people officer, much like the CFO of 2008, is a key leader in an organization right now, “guiding their organizations and people through these trying times where health, livelihoods, and equality are at stake, while also keeping a foot in tomorrow.”

“CHROs have always sat at an interesting crossroads to help their organizations elevate their people, or not – whether it be AI, a pandemic or inequity,” she said, adding the HR leaders who focus on people over process can navigate disruption better in the present and also help contribute to a better future.

At Accenture, for example, Shook said she and her colleagues have learned a lot over the past few months about how people work and how they can still collaborate and be innovative while physically distancing from each other. 

Due to this newfound knowledge, she said, “we are [not] taking this as an opportunity to think about how we go back to what normal was.” and

“This is an opportunity for lasting change,” Shook added. “For modern HR leaders, this has been an accelerant to create a blueprint for the future of work, rethink the social contract and drive even greater value for our people, businesses and communities. And, for those HR leaders who are less progressive, it’s an important catalyst to begin to create a resilient organization that is prepared for whatever the future holds.“