Are you a business that has had to close its doors and send employees home for an indefinite period of time?

When this coronavirus crisis passes, which it will, you will be in a mad rush to reopen your doors to customers and you will need your workforce to be upbeat, enthusiastic and raring to go to help make your business a success. 

So, how are you going to keep your people connected to your business when they’re not coming onto your premises every day?

Just like you would hopefully communicate with and keep in touch with an employee on maternity or adoption leave, you should be maintaining a connection with your furloughed employees.

Consider these things in your planning:

·      Keep in regular contact and demonstrate your concern for their welfare and wellbeing, keep in mind the mantra #togetherathome

·      Keep them informed about what you’re doing to protect your business and how you plan to come back stronger after this is over to give them confidence for the long-term.

·      Keep everything in line with the values of your organisation: if you have a value of fun, get people doing fun things to keep each other entertained; if you have a value of care, make sure you live that through how you care for your people and encourage your people to care for their communities and share their stories.

·      Keep a regular drumbeat of communication going. No-one knows how long this will last for but it’s fair to assume months rather than weeks so, without overwhelming people, plan what a regular drumbeat of communication should look like across each month.

·      Keep communications two-way. By this, we mean making sure you still have opportunities for employees to comment, ask questions and offer suggestions. Make sure you respond to questions and suggestions, so employees feel heard.

·      Keep your managers informed about the situation. If anyone's going to be asked questions by employees, it'll be them, so make sure they have access to a list of Frequently Asked Questions and know how to find out information for their team members, at the very least.

·      Keep in mind that employees are not at work - this is about letting people know that you care and want to keep them well-informed about the situation. Remember they may be busy educating children and making sure elderly relatives are cared for.

Once you have a plan, here are some ideas for content:

·      Get them talking to each other on social networks, such as a WhatsApp group or Facebook page. You may already have a corporate social network, such as Yammer, but if people aren’t at work, they’re not likely to be looking at these channels, so you’re best to connect on a platform they’ll be using anyway. Shared experiences build togetherness, and a sense of belonging helps people to feel proud, so encourage that sense of camaraderie between your colleagues to get through this and come out of it a stronger and closer team.

·      Consider organising your people into groups of three or four people who don't normally work together - different locations, different functions - and asking each of the small groups to organise to talk to each other about their jobs, what they do for the company and how they're getting through this very bizarre and surreal experience - this is something that's good to do during normal business but often we don't find time, so now is the perfect chance to get people talking, building relationships and finding out about different parts of the organisation - if they want to, of course, don't force people to take part if they feel uncomfortable or are dealing with their own stressful situations at home.

·      Internal Communication teams will always try to encourage their leaders to be visible, but they don't always get the time to prioritise employee engagement. Now is the time for leaders to speak with not just their own direct reports, but for MDs and CEOs to be calling employees for a pre-arranged chat to discuss what they think of the business and what they'd change. Here are three questions they could ask:

• What do you enjoy about working here?

• Tell me what you understand about what we're trying to achieve as a business

• We want to set you up to do your best work: if you were me, what would you change to allow someone in your role to enjoy their job more?

·      Employees have loads of ideas on how to improve the business. Use this as a time to ask people what they'd change to improve the business - in general, and specifically now, to see the business through a tough time. Crowdsource the ideas using Microsoft or Google Forms and have your Communication, HR and leadership teams meet online to discuss the main topics and think about how changes can be implemented when you're all back at work - then communicate this to employees to let them know you've listened.

·      This is a good opportunity for a reset and to remind your people what the business is trying to achieve. Take some time to think about how you can communicate your business strategy to colleagues in an accessible way that ensures they return to work knowing what you're all trying to achieve and how they can play their part.

When do we ever get the breathing space to take stock and how many times do we think: "Let's do that when we have time"? Use this bizarre period in all our lives and careers to your advantage and make your business better and stronger in the future.

We're here to provide expert advice and support about how you communicate with and engage your people - furloughed or otherwise. Give us a call - it'll give us something to talk about, other than coronavirus!