Empathy – The Second Wave of COVID-19 Demands Companies to Focus More On Employees

In Second Wave of COVID-19 situation, are organizations paying enough attention to their employees and their mental health?

CFOs globally are focused on investing more towards the well-being of their employees while planning on zero-based budgets. Especially for companies in India, it is high time for employers and CFOs to focus on the workforce.

For a CFO, it is tricky to decide whether to spend more or save during an emergency. In the last year, the majority of the CFOs have adopted a zero-based financing strategy and have focused on the potential scenario planning to counter the crisis economically.

As per the industry experts, more than business continuity and the business itself, currently companies should focus on people – the employees. This is the prime time for organizations to become close to great places to work by taking care and providing mental support to their employees.

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As it is said, a king may craft a great war strategy however, if he does not get trained warriors, the plan will fail. Lately, most of the prominent IT companies have communicated with their employees, suggesting priority be given to their mental health and well-being.

In fact, many companies have also formed a special task force to resolve worker issues associated with fatigue, sickness, mental exhaustion, or workload. Certainly, with the resurgence of the pandemic making life challenging for people, companies are required to set the benchmark higher.

How can companies help and support?

During such sensitive times, companies should gear up for the “employee first” approach. As the circumstances are critical and many people are battling for survival, business decision-makers should avoid restructuring now and show generosity towards people.

The reality is that a large part of the population is right away looking for medicines, hospital beds, and oxygen. As a result, the priority should be around the workforce because – if companies take care of and support employees now, then they can manage operations and customers for the business better in the future.

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Even though we function in a digital world, businesses may give more preference to advanced technology and data, but at the same time, they will require skilled resources to operate such technologies efficiently. Simply put, no organization can operate with 100% automation.

And as the marketplace is heading towards more digitalization, finding skilled resources will be a challenge moving ahead. Hence, this sensitive time calls for companies to support their employees more. Bigger companies have already been taking care of people in a far more protective manner than ever.

Clearly, this should encourage every other workplace around to take this path – in order to grow bigger and attain their business goals in the second wave of COVID-19.