Last week, we talked about how important it is to communicate with your clients. No one likes to be caught unawares and the best way to prevent that is to keep people informed. Just like your clients, employees are people too! They face the same, and in some cases more, insecurities as the other people you interact with.
When the Stay at Home order was announced, millions of people lost their jobs. For many that loss was immediate and they still don’t know if that job will come back. The honest truth is, I didn’t know if we would be able to weather a storm like this. I still don’t. As things stand right now, I think we’re going to be OK. We all might make a little less money for a few more months, but I think we’ll manage. I want this company and its staff to thrive but I want all of us and our clients to stay safe. It’s a tough situation for everyone. My employees worried that their jobs would vanish like so many others. Or maybe they’d still have them in theory, but they wouldn’t get paid for weeks, maybe even months. When I think back to that time, and starting those Zoom chats, I didn’t know what to tell them. They’re used to me having all the answers, or knowing how to get them. The truth is, I was just as scared as they were. I didn’t know what was going to happen and how we were going to get out of it. I wanted to tell them that everything was going to be OK and that I would keep them no matter what. I didn’t know that though, and I couldn’t lie to them. So I told them the truth. I didn’t know how long this would last. I didn’t know if Pawsitively Pooches would be here or look the same when it ended. All I could promise them was to do everything I could to keep this company, and their jobs, for as long as I could. I would apply for the loans, talk to the clients. I gave all the walks to staff and laid myself off so they could keep getting paid as long as possible. We were lucky. I got a PPP and we should be OK (as I’m writing this I don’t know if I need to have it all spent by mid June, we have enough to get us through July though so hopefully we’ll be given more time).
So much stress comes from the unknown. While I wasn’t able to give them all the answers, being able to reassure them that we were here and that I would fight to stay here was huge. I’ve tried to stay in communication and at the very least, be available when they need me. It’s important to me that they know they’re not alone. The only way I can do that, is to tell them.