Cost of living comms
Nice and easy topic to kick off with!
I've seen a few posts, etc. floating around on this topic with comms people asking what they should say internally.
Where my mind is at the moment (oversimplified for this discussion board) is unless your company is doing something meaningful to ease the cost of living crisis, you should probably consider keeping quiet.
I've seen suggestions of running budgeting workshops with Finance or even getting an external provider; tips for advertising the employee assistance line; ideas of running mental health sessions; even signposting to external sources. My issue with these is they all send a message of "not our problem" and feel a little slopey-shouldered to me. They also do not tackle the real issue in that people are likely to have less disposable income, which will lead to some (very) difficult choices for some.
I'm not suggesting that any of these things are not of some use, I just feel that right now the answer people will want is to be paid more. I'm not even sure bonuses are the answer, unless they are substantial/ Even then, I know some businesses are looking to pay (relatively) small bonuses that are likely to cover some cost of living increases for a month or two, but they have redundancies coming down the track or in play. Again, maybe boasting about bonuses in this situation is not the best look. We should probably tread carefully here.
So, what's my answer if businesses are not offering inflation-matching increases to basic pay?
I honestly don't know, and that's why I'm posting here - to spark a convo.
Maybe the best thing we could do is upskill managers in having supporting conversations, real check-ins on people that are focused on that person and not their performance at work. Empathy, understanding and care being at the centre of these conversations. The managers should know their people as individuals better than anyone else, so they're probably best-placed for this - they just might need support in how they do it.
And, let's not forget, some managers will also be impacted by this crisis... so asking them to support their employees through it, carry out their BAU duties and deal with their personal issues should also be a consideration.
Comments and criticism welcome :)
Created: 27 Sep 2022 05:09:30 PM
I think managers are an important part of this but maybe we should also be encouraging leaders to do listening sessions to really understand what it's like for people and to understand how they might be able to help (ie adding something to the benefits offering) and that might go a long way.
Would be interested to hear what others are doing.