Story highlights:

Great managers create the right environment for surviving stressful times, but normal & customary tactics do not work.
At present about 70% of employees are emotionally compromised and need special attention that differs from the attention they have typically received from their managers.
Leadership needs to act to address these unexpected employee issues. If a company fails to act, they should not be surprised if employee morale and engagement only gets worse in the coming weeks.
Good news: there are four steps a manager can take now on a daily basis to drastically reduce stress and anxiety levels, and thus improve focus and productivity. It starts with a 5-minute phone call.

In times of plenty and safety, great managers consistently engage their teams to inspire, to excel, and to achieve excellence. Great managers are one of the most important keys to great team performance. They create environments where employees take ownership for their own work and the support the work of others around them. They are engaged and see their workplaces as engines of solutions, progress and results.

Not every team is so lucky to be led by a great manager. In 2015, Gallup produced an outstanding analysis of this important dynamic in the State of the American Manager: Analytics and Advice for Leaders. In this analysis of 2.5 million manager-led teams and 27 million employees in 195 countries, Gallup found that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units. In plain language: Gallup found that when a manager is positive, collected, and cool, chances are pretty good (70%) that the teams they lead and the individuals in these teams are positive, collected and cool as well.

Fast forward to April 8th, 2020 and it is hard to find anyone who is positive, collected and cool. Highlights from three wide-ranging surveys conducted by Economist/YouGov, the Pew Research Center, and the Washington Post confirm this:

Eighty-one percent (81%) of the people say that the Covid-19 pandemic has created a “national emergency” (Economist/YouGov).
Sixty-six percent (66%) believe that it is a “major threat” to the health of the U.S. population (Pew).
Eighty-eight percent (88%) say that it is a major threat to the economy (Pew).
Fifty-seven percent (57%) say that the country is “at war” with the coronavirus (Economist/YouGov).
Nearly 75% of Americans are concerned about an outbreak in their communities (Economist/YouGov).
About 7 in 10 (70%) express the fear that they or a member of their family will catch the disease.
About two-thirds (~66%) say that the disease will push the U.S. into a recession or that we are already in one.
One-third (~33%) of all households have already experienced layoffs or pay cuts.
One out of every two U.S. Adults (49%) see COVID-19 as a major threat to their personal finances.

If these statistics aren’t sobering enough, know this: from the excellent survey work of Ipsos, Public Opinion on the Covid-19 Outbreak, leadership teams should expect that these statistics are going to get worse before they get better. There is no reason to believe the American public (and their U.S. employees) will not reach the same points where public opinion has reached in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. Bottom line: More, if not most employees are emotionally compromised and hurting inside. Most are despondent, fearful, scatter-brained, and definitely not cool.

With this level of stress and anxiety about personal finances, health, the needs of children, and the vulnerability of loved ones, it is simply naïve for managers to attempt to run “business as usual” over video conference calls and emails. It is even worse if managers use the oh-so-tiring, Monday-as-usual tactic of starting calls with the question: “How’s everyone doing?” The monotone answers of “Ok”, “Good as can be expected”, and the worst of all, “Fine” are an indication that the team is anything but ok, good, and fine.

Leaving aside for a moment the fact that most managers are just as emotionally compromised as their employees, there are four steps a manager can take now on a daily basis to drastically reduce stress and anxiety levels, and thus improve focus and productivity. It starts with a 5-minute phone call.

Call each team member privately over the phone (not video), and talk to them, listen to them. It only takes 5 minutes. What is their level of stress? What worries them most? What is the source of their anxiety? Are they effected in ways you did not know?

Don’t expect complete openness and transparency on the first call, if having such conversations is not something you as their manger do already. Chances are very high that they want to open up and talk about their fears and frustrations. Just ask some questions and listen.

Don’t judge. Instead take the time to learn and understand. To some, the fear of being alone during this time is overwhelming. It is causing them to literally lose their marbles. Others are so stressed, they cannot verbalize. Instead they are working like over-revving engines, running at 120%, and destined for a collapse at some point. You need to know where each employee on your team is, because maybe, just maybe, you or the company can be a source of solution.

Don’t vent on them. Yes, we know you are stressed too. (Don’t worry, there will be another article shortly to help reduce your stress levels). Only don’t use this call to then vent, unload, unburden, release, confess, etc. Your first job is to be a kind, compassionate listener.

By demonstrating through a 5-minute phone call, that their company cares and is compassionate and concerned, managers will reduce team member stress and anxiety levels, and in their employee’s eyes, might just become their hero for the day.

Next article: Leading in the COVID-19 Crisis: Five ways managers can reduce their stresses and be the leaders they hope to be.

About the Author: Peter Classen is a Managing Partner at Grahampton & Company, a management services company with three decades of experience helping organizations survive and thrive in some of the most complicated and thorny situations imaginable. He has been a hands-on c-suite leader and “chief crisis officer” in two +1,000 employee organizations during extended national crisis and disaster settings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his strategic growth and business transformation focus has shifted to working with leadership teams and business owners, on responsive policies and practices to manage better during this period, to confidential leadership advice, business pivots, and core business protection/preservation efforts. Find Peter and his teams at www.grahampton.com.