Libraries Providing Home COVID-19 Test Kits Face Challenges; Library Journal, February 15, 2022

 Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Libraries Providing Home COVID-19 Test Kits Face Challenges

"Libraries have been distributing masks throughout the pandemic. In 2021, they began partnering with local health departments to distribute test kits as well—at curbside, in parking lots, or in the building—with varying results. Particularly in late 2021 and January of this year, kits ran out almost immediately even as takers lined up for blocks. Communication from city and county health agencies was not always timely or accurate. And library workers once again found themselves on the front lines managing patron reactions and their own safety concerns."

You’ve Done Self Care. You’ve Languished. Now Try This.; The New York Times, February 13, 2022

Brad Stulberg, The New York Times; You’ve Done Self Care. You’ve Languished. Now Try This.

"If you don’t know where to begin, a good place to start is by reflecting on what matters to you most, what provides you with a sense of well-being and groundedness. Then ask yourself how to apply that activation energy strategically. What actions will give you the oomph you need? For example, if improving your fitness would make you feel better, you might start with 30 minutes of daily movement. If creativity is what you’re missing, writing for an hour three days per week could restart that engine. If you lack loving connection, try planning an adventure (that feels safe) with your family or friends, or even schedule time for physical intimacy with a partner. You may not feel like getting started, but get started anyway, then see what happens. Your doing influences your being.

This isn’t to suggest that you beat yourself up or give yourself a drill-sergeant lecture every morning. Indeed, a key step in the strategy is accepting its imperfections. Many of us are operating in less-than-ideal circumstances — dealing with illness, financial stress, work anxiety, a lack of child care. Overcoming the inertia of languishing requires fierce self-discipline — and a fierce compassion for oneself. You may think of these two qualities as opposites, but they are not. Research shows that being kind to yourself during hardships and challenges can increase resilience and strength.

A mantra I use in my own life is, “This is what’s happening right now. I’m doing the best that I can. Just get going, and see what happens.” I remind myself that sometimes the kindest thing I can do for myself is also the hardest thing to do — and that what seems hard today might just make tomorrow feel a bit easier."

16 Tips To Transform Employee Performance Evaluations In 2022; Forbes, January 24, 2022

Forbes; 16 Tips To Transform Employee Performance Evaluations In 2022

"As hybrid and remote work solutions continue to become the new norm throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond, many business leaders are rethinking how to adjust what used to be an in-person employee annual review process now that there are more people working from home on a regular basis. 

In December 2021, Psychology Today reported that organizations are now more likely to implement systematic, frequent (rather than annual), and shorter reviews that are focused on productive feedback, guidance and coaching to help their staff members make better decisions.

Depending on how your department managers choose to conduct their employee performance evaluations, a streamlined approach may be a better fit and beneficial for all parties involved. Below are 16 ideas that Forbes Human Resources Council members have put in place to transform employee evaluations in their organizations."

Collective Support: LJ’s 2022 Librarians of the Year; Library Journal, January 4, 2022

Lisa Peet, Library Journal; Collective Support: LJ’s 2022 Librarians of the Year

"Each January, Library Journal bestows its Librarian of the Year award on a North American library professional or team whose work embodies the best of the profession’s mission. These have ranged from academic to public to special librarians, and from directors and state librarians to patron-facing staff, but all have demonstrated accomplishments that reflect their commitment to free access to information, service to all areas and constituencies, and strengthening the library role in the community.

The past year has asked much from library workers across the country, among many others. COVID-19 continued to create unprecedented challenges, requiring library staff to balance patron and student needs with their own safety and that of their colleagues and loved ones...

For all of the above and countless other reasons, the winner of LJ’s 2022 Librarian of the Year award, sponsored by Baker & Taylor, is all library staff. It’s you, reading this. It’s your colleague behind the front desk, the volunteer shelving books, the outreach worker in the bookmobile, the tech staff member setting someone up with their first email account, the instructional librarian helping a first-year student navigate college resources, the school librarian fighting to keep Lawn Boy and Ruby Bridges Goes to School on the shelves for students eager to see the diversity of their world reflected in their reading, the medical librarian wrangling pandemic research to support colleagues saving lives. Congratulations. You’ve earned it.

Fittingly, the idea was inspired by a library staffer."

Q&A: How Empathy Makes for Effective Leadership; HR Exchange Network, January 3, 2022

Francesca Di Meglio , HR Exchange Network; Q&A: How Empathy Makes for Effective Leadership

"The next generation of leaders must have empathy. Life is hard, and the pandemic made it harder. So, kindness and heart are becoming more important than even practical skills like accounting. Many employees are facing tremendous pressure, and now HR leaders are responding. Mental health and wellness are top priorities of organizations aiming to recruit and retain top talent. 

As a result of this shift, employers are recognizing the need for softer skills in hires. Recently, Maria Leggett, director of Education at MHI in Charlotte, North Carolina, spoke to HR Exchange Network about the importance of empathy in leadership. Leggett will be hosting a session at the online event HR and the Future of Work, which takes place February 22 to 24, 2022. 

HREN: Why is empathy vital to leadership? Why has it come to the forefront now?

ML: There is room for kindness. Now more than ever, we need kindness in the workplace. With the talent shortage and remote work, employees have more and more career options. As a result, managers need to be more people-focused and incorporate empathy and kindness into their leadership approach.

Empathy is about understanding. Having compassion allows us to see different points of view and perspectives. Employees want to be more than just "seen." They want their managers to know that they work hard and accomplish a lot while having a life outside of work. When managers connect and collaborate with their teams effectively, they learn more about their strengths and skills and get the most out of their interactions with their teams. Empathy helps facilitate that.

HREN: How do you teach or help managers to be empathetic?

ML: Slow down, ask questions, listen more, and be authentic. When people hear more and talk less, they can be open to different perspectives and respond more appropriately to situations.  While managers may have to deliver feedback that is not always positive, people are more likely to receive the input when delivered with empathy and genuine authenticity.  

COVID has allowed people to be more authentic as they worked out of their homes, allowing people to see a personal side and providing people space to be their whole self. That won’t change when things get back to a more stable state. COVID has demonstrated that people can still show up and accomplish great work, even with a chaotic personal life. No one has time for someone to be micro-managing, uncompromising, and lacking empathy. Empathy is changing the fabric of our work culture."

Why Legal Department Mission Statements Are Mission Critical During the Great ‘Reflection’; Law.com, January 25, 2022

Catherine Kemnitz, Law.com; Why Legal Department Mission Statements Are Mission Critical During the Great ‘Reflection’

It’s been termed the Great Resignation but as a colleague of mine likes to say, it should really be called the Great Reflection. We’re not seeing lawyers question whether they should be practicing law, but rather reflecting on how, why, and for whom they practice it.

"So when Axiom, in collaboration with Wakefield Research, conducted a survey of 220 legal department heads at companies with $250 million or more in annual revenue we aimed to dive deeper into more unusual, but critically important terrain. We focused on examining how COVID impacted GCs and the legal teams trying to reconcile changing business demands with the values of their departments and broader organizations.

What we found underscored the importance of values to the in-house team and the critical role GCs play in developing those values, articulating them, and leading organizational adherence to them.

Here’s the headline: 85% of GCs surveyed believe that the legal department has a responsibility to be the primary driver of company values. Those values vary by organization but typically include complying with relevant laws and regulations; an emphasis on social responsibility and human interests; promoting diversity and inclusion; addressing social, environmental and human rights concerns; and importantly, the development, retention, and well-being of the legal team...

Actioning Department Values 

What we found is that adherence to values isn’t just talk, it’s action...

Mission Statements: The Haves and Have Nots

A mission statement is a promise between a company, the legal department, and its lawyers to follow a core set of values. Even more than other departmental mission statements, legal department versions are enterprise-critical. Many, if not all, of the company’s hard choices will hit the legal department. As a result, a values-based approach within legal will inherently permeate throughout the rest of the enterprise.

In addition to its impact on the broader organization, the legal mission statement is becoming increasingly important to the lawyers who are part of the in-house team. Employees’ priorities and goals have evolved into something substantively different from their pre-pandemic aspirations. Like other workers, lawyers are rejecting workplaces, practices, and remuneration that don’t align with their personal goals. They’re also rejecting employers that don’t have a greater missional focus, or if they do, lack a fundamental adherence to it. Lawyers will no longer settle for soulless roles, and will no longer practice on behalf of soulless organizations.

As a result, our survey found that articulating and reaffirming a commitment to both departmental and organizational goals is increasingly imperative to legal team satisfaction, retention, and performance.  Despite the importance, however, a full 40% of GCs admit they lack formal legal department mission statements.

Put simply, that’s a mistake. Not only does our survey demonstrate that GCs with mission statements are better positioned to navigate volatility, it makes clear that these statements are a critical tools for retaining and nurturing the type of legal talent needed to effectively serve the organization.

The Bottom Line for GCs

Legal department mission statements are mission critical.

GCs that don’t have them must develop them. GCs that do, must consistently revisit them."

There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing; The New York Times, April 19, 2021

Adam Grant, The New York Times ; There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing

The neglected middle child of mental health can dull your motivation and focus — and it may be the dominant emotion of 2021.

[Kip Currier: A military friend of mine who works in the Pentagon shared with me that their team's new leader sent a supportive message to the team this week and that the leader had also decided to share with the team this 4/19/21 New York Times article, excerpted here, because "if it helps one person on our team, or if you’re able to help someone out there, it’s worth it."

Let's pass this helpful information on to others too.] 

"A name for what you’re feeling

Psychologists find that one of the best strategies for managing emotions is to name them. Last spring, during the acute anguish of the pandemic, the most viral post in the history of Harvard Business Review was an article describing our collective discomfort as grief. Along with the loss of loved ones, we were mourning the loss of normalcy. “Grief.” It gave us a familiar vocabulary to understand what had felt like an unfamiliar experience. Although we hadn’t faced a pandemic before, most of us had faced loss. It helped us crystallize lessons from our own past resilience — and gain confidence in our ability to face present adversity.

We still have a lot to learn about what causes languishing and how to cure it, but naming it might be a first step. It could help to defog our vision, giving us a clearer window into what had been a blurry experience. It could remind us that we aren’t alone: languishing is common and shared.

And it could give us a socially acceptable response to “How are you?”

Instead of saying “Great!” or “Fine,” imagine if we answered, “Honestly, I’m languishing.” It would be a refreshing foil for toxic positivity — that quintessentially American pressure to be upbeat at all times.

When you add languishing to your lexicon, you start to notice it all around you. It shows up when you feel let down by your short afternoon walk. It’s in your kids’ voices when you ask how online school went. It’s in “The Simpsons” every time a character says, “Meh.”

Last summer, the journalist Daphne K. Lee tweeted about a Chinese expression that translates to “revenge bedtime procrastination.” She described it as staying up late at night to reclaim the freedom we’ve missed during the day. I’ve started to wonder if it’s not so much retaliation against a loss of control as an act of quiet defiance against languishing. It’s a search for bliss in a bleak day, connection in a lonely week, or purpose in a perpetual pandemic.

An antidote to languishing

So what can we do about it? A concept called “flow” may be an antidote to languishing. Flow is that elusive state of absorption in a meaningful challenge or a momentary bond, where your sense of time, place and self melts away. During the early days of the pandemic, the best predictor of well-being wasn’t optimism or mindfulness — it was flow. People who became more immersed in their projects managed to avoid languishing and maintained their prepandemic happiness."...

Give yourself some uninterrupted time

That means we need to set boundaries. Years ago, a Fortune 500 software company in India tested a simple policy: no interruptions Tuesday, Thursday and Friday before noon...

Focus on a small goal

The pandemic was a big loss. To transcend languishing, try starting with small wins, like the tiny triumph of figuring out a whodunit or the rush of playing a seven-letter word. One of the clearest paths to flow is a just-manageable difficulty: a challenge that stretches your skills and heightens your resolve. That means carving out daily time to focus on a challenge that matters to you — an interesting project, a worthwhile goal, a meaningful conversation. Sometimes it’s a small step toward rediscovering some of the energy and enthusiasm that you’ve missed during all these months.

Languishing is not merely in our heads — it’s in our circumstances. You can’t heal a sick culture with personal bandages. We still live in a world that normalizes physical health challenges but stigmatizes mental health challenges. As we head into a new post-pandemic reality, it’s time to rethink our understanding of mental health and well-being. “Not depressed” doesn’t mean you’re not struggling. “Not burned out” doesn’t mean you’re fired up. By acknowledging that so many of us are languishing, we can start giving voice to quiet despair and lighting a path out of the void.

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at Wharton, the author of “Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know” and the host of the TED podcast WorkLife."

MARTA CEO Jeffrey Parker, 56, has died; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 15, 2022

David Wickert, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; MARTA CEO Jeffrey Parker, 56, has died

"MARTA CEO Jeffrey Parker, who led the public transit agency through an era of expansion and pandemic, died Friday night, the agency confirmed.

The agency said Parker died by suicide. An agency official confirmed he was struck by a train at the East Lake station. The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office said it could release no details of Parker’s death until its investigation is complete.

“The MARTA Board of Directors grieves the shocking death of our GM/CEO Jeff Parker who has died by suicide,” Chairwoman Rita Scott said in a statement Saturday. “He was an outstanding leader and steward of MARTA whose passing leaves us all heartbroken...

Only on rare occasion does The Atlanta Journal-Constitution report death by suicide. The newspaper will typically respect the privacy of grieving families in such a circumstance. But in this case, a well-known public figure’s family is sharing the news with the public as a way to counter the stigma attached to suicide. The newspaper is honoring that request...

SEEKING HELP: Individuals with suicidal thoughts, or those who notice signs in others, can call the Georgia Crisis and Access Line at 1-800-715-4225, which is available around the clock. All calls are free and confidential. To find a mental health service provider, visit www.mygcal.com."

Help wanted: What Metro needs from its next general manager; NPR, January 24, 2022

JORDAN PASCALE, NPR; Help wanted: What Metro needs from its next general manager

"With Paul Wiedefeld stepping down in six months, Metro's board will be looking for a new leader to steer WMATA through some of its most trying times.

Using what we know about the system, and through interviews and statements from politicians and transit advocates, we put together a "job posting" to highlight what the next general manager will face when they come on board. (And no, this is not the official job posting. Metro's board is still working on that, we just hope this is a clever way to present the news)."

What’s keeping HR up at night? The Great Resignation and much more; Human Resource Executive, January 24, 2022

Kathryn Mayer, Human Resource Executive; What’s keeping HR up at night? The Great Resignation and much more

"All the turmoil of recent years has employees re-evaluating their lives and work,” Jezior says, explaining that more than half of the workforce says the pandemic has them reevaluating their priorities and a third say it’s causing them to consider changing careers.

Furthermore, burnout and other stresses have soared as a result of COVID-19 and its associated challenges, with employees working longer hours, taking less time off, forgoing vacations and dealing with a loss of work-life balance as boundaries blur when they are working remotely.

“The pandemic was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Jezior says. “Employee burnout was simmering long before the pandemic, and now it’s boiled over. [More than half] of working Americans say they are burnt out at work, and that’s just an unsustainable situation for employers who want to keep their workers. Also, employees now have more leverage on salary and benefits, and they often are willing to go to the highest bidder.”"

Ways To Watch | Programs That Pop; Library Journal, January 19, 2022

Bill Harmer & Alex Giannini , Library Journal; Ways To Watch | Programs That Pop

 "As we learned during the pandemic, the library can provide greater access and further reach by simultaneously offering in-person and virtual services and programs. That means no matter how audience behaviors ultimately swing in the future, hybrid events will be a pillar of our new normal. We must continue to refine our capability of being anywhere and everywhere for anybody."

The Great Faculty Disengagement; The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 19, 2022

Kevin R. McClure

 and Alisa Hicklin Fryar

, The Chronicle of Higher Education; The Great Faculty Disengagement

Faculty members aren’t leaving in droves, but they are increasingly pulling away.

"As many observers have pointed out, the “Great Resignation” doesn’t perfectly capture what’s happening in the U.S. labor market. Data suggest many people, especially those with jobs in fields like hospitality, aren’t quitting the work force but rather jumping to better opportunities.

In much the same way, the Great Resignation doesn’t perfectly capture what’s happening on college campuses. Faculty members, as unhappy as many of them are, are largely staying put. What has changed is how they approach their jobs...

In response to our Twitter thread, people said they were doing what they must, but nothing extra. They said they used to be a “rah-rah team player,” but not anymore. They used to feel strong ties to their institution, but they have since felt so undervalued that they’re cutting back. One response that especially stood out to us: “Faculty might not be quitting, but they’ve left the building — sometimes departure is a state of mind.”

It’s important to note that disengagement doesn’t suggest laziness or that faculty members and necessarily shirking their core responsibilities. We know — on a deep, personal level — that many faculty members are working very hard. Doing the bare minimum in a global pandemic is sometimes a herculean effort. In some ways, disengaging is a perfectly rational response if your employer signals through their words and actions that your engagement isn’t welcome. Many faculty members are being asked to do their jobs in a way that puts their safety at risk, and when they raise concerns, they are ignored and invalidated. It’s hard to bounce back from that...

Our big fear is that college leaders won’t do anything. We get the sense that some leaders think that if we can just get on the “other side” of the pandemic, things will magically improve. Like we’ll flip the switch back on and the faculty will reanimate. Going silent on this issue right now severely underestimates its magnitude.

The pandemic will eventually transition into something else, but its effects will linger. For how long and with what consequences depends on what college leaders decide to do right now."

How can employees and businesses deal with bullying in the hybrid workplace?, Lexology, January 11, 2022

Stewarts - Charlie Thompson , Lexology ; How can employees and businesses deal with bullying in the hybrid workplace?

"Bullying at work reflects the culture of a workplace. Certain conditions create a hospitable environment for bullying, whether it is leadership failures, excessive work pressure, a workplace full of cliques, policies that are not enforced, lack of training or an HR team that is not empowered to tackle problems. In this article, originally published in HRM Guide, Charlie Thompson considers how workplace bullying has changed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and what employees can do about it."

Your Company's Diversity Efforts Need to Include Learning Differences; Time, January 10, 2022

FRED POSES , Time ; Your Company's Diversity Efforts Need to Include Learning Differences

"There’s no denying that the past two pandemic years have been uniquely challenging for managers and employees alike. But amid all the upheaval Covid has brought to our working lives, it’s also sparked two trends that, taken together, signal a moment of real change for workers with thinking and learning differences.

The first is companies’ increased commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Despite the fact that one in five people in the United States is born with ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, or other atypical abilities, they’ve often been left out of discussions about DEI. But when an organization can honestly reflect on how its systems prioritize some groups over others—on whose needs get elevated and whose needs get sidelined—it creates new space for those with learning differences to make themselves heard."

How I learned to find work-life balance during the COVID-19 pandemic; ABA Journal, January 11, 2022

SATEESH NORI, ABA Journal; How I learned to find work-life balance during the COVID-19 pandemic

"I now realize that I did not have a healthy work-life balance for most of my career. I was sleep-deprived, constantly moving from meeting to meeting, and was never able to reflect on what was and is most important to me as a human being. I need to protect myself from the exhaustion, burnout and cynicism that was building within me about my work. I need to save time for those moments in life with my friends and family that I will cherish at the end of the road.

I will move forward with this perspective, grateful for it, fortunate about the privilege that I relied upon during the pandemic, and eager to pass this insight on to others."

Meet the 2022 I Love My Librarian Award Winners; American Libraries, January 10, 2022

 Chase Ollis, American Libraries ; Meet the 2022 I Love My Librarian Award Winners

ALA honors 10 librarians for outstanding service

"On January 10 the American Library Association (ALA) announced the 10 winners of this year’s I Love My Librarian Award, nominated by patrons for their expertise, dedication, and profound impact in their communities. Three academic librarians, three public librarians, three school librarians, and one prison librarian are receiving the award this year...

John Paul Mahofski

Correctional Librarian

Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Maryland

During his time at Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI), Mahofski (or “Mr. M,” as most of his patrons know him) has introduced programs that have improved library and information services for the prison population he serves, notably creative writing, typing, and summer reading. For some programs, participants received a certificate of completion.

When the pandemic forced the library space to close, Mahofski pivoted library services to a bookmobile model, delivering materials and information requests to and from inmates multiple times a week. The bookmobile model was extended to similarly transport homework between teachers and students in ECI, and it was later adapted by other institutional libraries.

Mr. M “does everything in his power to make the brief time we have in the library an enjoyable and useful experience,” his nominator wrote."

Our Favorite Management Tips of 2021; Harvard Business Review, December 30, 2021

HBR Editors, Harvard Business Review; Our Favorite Management Tips of 2021

"Another year, another set of challenges and responsibilities for managers to tackle. Hybrid work, the Great Resignation, mass burnout — on and on. Each weekday, in our Management Tip of the Day newsletter, HBR offers daily tips to help you better manage your teams — and yourselves — through this period of profound change and uncertainty. Here are 10 of our favorite tips from 2021...

How to Give Critical Feedback — Remotely

Giving critical feedback is one of your most challenging responsibilities as a manager — and if you’re working remotely, it’s even harder. How can you update your approach to giving feedback in a WFH world? Here are some key steps to keep in mind:

• Start by asking questions. You need to understand your employee’s perception of their performance before expressing yours.
• Show specific appreciation before laying out criticism. They’ll be more likely to be receptive to your feedback if they trust that you value them.
• State your positive intentions. Something as simple as “I’m in your corner” can go a long way.
• Clarify and contrast. “I’m saying X, I’m not saying Y.”
• Ask your employee to state their key takeaways from the conversation.

We’re all under intense stress from the pandemic. Taking care to deliver your feedback with clarity and sensitivity will help people focus on the reality of your message, even in a remote environment.

Adapted from “Giving Critical Feedback Is Even Harder Remotely,” by Therese Huston"

Intellectual property in a post-pandemic future part I - The world has become more IP-intensive; Lexology, December 31, 2021

Bird & Bird LLP, Lexology; Intellectual property in a post-pandemic future part I - The world has become more IP-intensive

"The coronavirus pandemic surprised the world a couple of years ago and forced people to adapt to exceptional circumstances. At the start of this series of articles, the return to the “new normal” has already been canceled once due to the omicron variant, and the old saying about the certainty of change feels very concrete.

A great deal has also happened in the field of intellectual property assets during the pandemic. I will discuss these, perhaps to some degree surprising, changes in the following series of articles, the first part of which concerns IP protection activity and its effects during the coronavirus era. In the second part, I will proceed to address the IP cultures of businesses which are nowadays seen as an increasingly significant part of the IP strategies of corporations. The third and final section of the series is dedicated to IP issues regarding sustainable development. All the themes mentioned show that even in the field of IP rights, only change is permanent and succeeding in a changing IP field requires companies to adapt a considerably more active and conscious frame of mind."

Working 9 to 5? 'Out of Office' author says maybe it's time to rethink that; NPR, Fresh Air, December 13, 2021

Terry Gross, NPR, Fresh Air; Working 9 to 5? 'Out of Office' author says maybe it's time to rethink that

"In the new book Out of Office, Petersen and her partner and co-author, Charlie Warzel, make the case that the pandemic has created a rare opportunity to rethink the shape of work life — including the 9-to-5 workday. 

"The status quo of us being in offices from a certain time to a certain time every day ... [is] very arbitrary," Petersen says. "It's based on rhythms that are no longer ours. It's based on an understanding that there is a caretaker at home for most families in the United States, and that's not necessarily the case."

Now, as workplaces begin to reopen, it's a good time to revisit what she calls "arbitrary understandings of how many hours your butt should be in a chair in the office." After all, she says, "You don't need to be in an office to answer emails.""

Don’t Let the Pandemic Sink Your Company Culture; Harvard Business Review (HBR), August 17, 2020

Jenny Chatman

 and 

Francesca Gino

,  Harvard Business Review (HBR); Don’t Let the Pandemic Sink Your Company Culture

"3. Model transcendent values. When the pandemic started, leaders of &pizza, a Washington, D.C.-based pizza chain that serves creative, oblong pies, decided this would be the perfect moment to leverage their culture. As they told one of us (Francesca), their founding philosophy was “doing good while being good” — to both serve and reflect the communities where their shops are located.

The leaders of &pizza created an initiative in March 2020 to provide free pies to health workers in hospitals dealing with Covid-19 patients. And recognizing how the pandemic might strain their own “tribe” (i.e., its employees), they raised workers’ hourly pay and increased their benefits — for instance, they offered free access to Netflix and paid for their travel to work. The company also gave employees who wanted to join protests after the killing of George Floyd paid time off. The company has retained 90% of its employees, and the 10% who left are mainly people who asking to be let go because of personal reasons. (Before the pandemic, its normal turnover rate was 10%.)

It is very likely that your organization has already adapted more quickly and effectively during the pandemic than you ever thought possible. Build on that progress by communicating that accomplishment to your employees and instituting the practices we’ve described. Doing so will almost certainly strengthen your culture — one that will help your organization better contend with whatever lies ahead."