09/12/2017

When the Wind Blows

Hurricane Harvey’s impact on workplaces and employees

As hurricanes such as Harvey and Irma continue to wreak havoc across the U.S. and other countries, the last thing most people are thinking about is the effect on businesses and work teams. And, yet, those businesses will have to rebuild, those work teams will have to rise again, and those badly needed jobs and livelihoods will need to stick around. It’s something every leader and manager should be planning for right now.

When a large disaster strikes, it serves to remind us how puny our own plans and work processes are. Mostly in the world of work, people rely on policies and procedures, thinking that these can handle all eventualities. When a fault or a problem arises at work that’s embarrassing or unacceptable, a policy or procedural solution is usually the first thing people reach for. A natural disaster, though, cures us of this fallacy—showing us that there’s no liberal leave policy, no rule about flooding in the car park, no management position that can pilot a team of people or an organization through the complete destruction and all the massive, unpredictable chaos of a really big tropical storm.

What we’re forced back onto when all our finely balanced workplace rules and procedures collapse around us is our shared values. A strong roof may or may not protect your workplace or your work team in the bedlam to come, but be assured, the businesses and teams that survive Hurricane Harvey will be the ones with strong values.

Please click here to read the read complete article from Training Magazine.