Motivating and Managing Startup Teams During a Pandemic
Amongst the many stresses of COVID-19, some of the greatest challenges for founders have not been profit-focused, but people-focused. How do we encourage employee well being and manage our teams during this crisis? When remotely hiring employees, how do we develop deeper relationships with personnel and ensure they have a true understanding of company culture? Even more challenging, given limited resources and the need for leaner operations, how do we manage laying off employees? Human Resources and people expert, Sarah Pillmore, joined us on DreamitLive with Dreamit Managing Partner, Steve Barsh, to discuss all this and more as we continue to feature expert advice on how to navigate these challenging times.
How should founders view employee wellness?
Employee wellness is an important topic of discussion right now as we are all undergoing a crisis that impacts our health, both mental and physical, and financial well being. Sarah reminds us not to forget that employees bring their whole selves to work. Employee well-being encompasses the whole self: physical, mental, environmental, financial, social, and intellectual. Sarah says while she worked at Expedia, HR leaders encouraged employees to bring their whole selves to work by taking a bottoms-up approach and having them establish the values of Expedia as opposed to the company imposing values on employees.
How can founders support employee well being?
Sarah says first, founders must acknowledge the situation at hand. They must acknowledge that the world is not normal right now and adjust accordingly. Your workforce needs to understand that their micro-level actions have a positive impact on defeating this pandemic. Be cognizant of who your employees are in all aspects of the “whole person.” Sarah emphasizes that as a founder, you must do your best to understand where your employee is on the emotional spectrum and mitigate their stresses accordingly. This is the key to empathetic leadership.
Once we acknowledge this situation and the difficulties it presents, how do we motivate and manage our teams right now? First, Sarah addresses the greatest obstacle we are all confronting: working remotely. On the topic, she recommends reading GitLab’s Remote Manifesto. Additionally, it’s important to set new standards to ensure all team members are on the same medium. For example, when conducting a virtual meeting, everyone should agree to have cameras off or on. Personally, as someone who has barely been wearing makeup these past few months, I can empathize with those who prefer audio-only meetings. Still, the more our teams agree to certain standards, the more effectively they’ll be able to work together.
Sarah also touches on the importance of “work-life integration” over “work-life balance.” This “new normal” has forced us to acknowledge that work and life do co-exist. We have priorities outside of work, which are now more prevalent than ever with kids at home and newfound time with loved ones. Work must become more flexible to better accommodate non-work-related priorities. At Dreamit, for example, we work from home on Fridays. Sarah challenges us to acknowledge that this isn’t flexible, it’s actually inflexible. What is flexible is acknowledging that life is constantly a balancing act and we must adjust accordingly. Say you have a big meeting on Friday, but a soccer game to be at for your kid on Tuesday, what do you do? Work from home on Tuesday and come to the office on Friday. Flexibility means that work will be accommodating of your other priorities.
How should founders adjust hiring and downsizing processes?
Working remotely has benefits and challenges. A distributed workforce allows for better work-life integration but imposes new challenges to hiring remotely. To overcome the barriers of remote hiring it is important to mimic the aspects of traditional in-person interviewing. Try to engage with your prospective hire in a way that allows you to read their body language and for them to read yours. Also, represent your brand even though you are not bringing them to your office. Finally, be flexible. Acknowledge that not all elements of traditional hiring can be seamlessly transferred to virtual hiring (e.g. panel-style interviews).
Very few companies are in the fortunate position of hiring right now. Instead, many companies are facing the reality of laying off a substantial portion of their workforce as we are forced to cut budgets and parts of our business are no longer profitable. Consider whether a furlough strategy may work for you, or if you will have to do an actual reduction in headcount. Sarah reminds us that, “Your culture is who you hire, fire, and promote.” Your employees will remember the actions that you take during this challenging time. Sarah says, “The decision you make has to be about your business, but the way in which you implement that decision has to be about your people.” Make sure you’ve thought about how you can help your people during this time. Think about how you can promote them to your network. Make it clear that you will continue to support this person’s success.
We’ve seen a number of challenges with COVID-19. It affects every aspect of your being. So founders, do not forget that your employees are multi-faceted. This is true whether you are checking in on their wellness status, managing employees, hiring prospective employees, or laying off members of your valuable workforce. People like Sarah Pillmore remind us that business is foremost human-to-human. COVID-19 has only emphasized the importance of that by forcing work-life integration. When this pandemic subsides, the lessons learned here are important to remember. our workforce is not just a force, they are people who make up a team and must be treated as such.
By Alana Hill, Securetech Associate at Dreamit Ventures
Subscribe to Dreamit’s Podcast on Apple, Google Podcasts, or Spotify
