Managing Through a Personal Crisis (Part 1 of 2)

Great cast M&M, Because we are not

Great cast M&M,
Because we are not taught how to deal with crises we revert back to our personal life and family dealings for guidance. This is usually OK for what you term events.

I have found that being professional while being caring can be a strength to an employee in crisis. Be clear with what help is available and how you are going to behave in this crisis. The employee now has boundaries for a large part of their normal day defined and hopefully spends less time concerned with their job or peers and concetrates on dealing with the crisis. If the crisis is great you and the company don't figure in their thinking. This is OK short term. Personal crisis is another big ball. Harsh sounding but essential. Consider family heads in time of tragedy. Families still need fed, bills still need to be paid.

I feel crisis is a time of bonding. An employee who has been treated well will give a lot more effort in picking up afterwards. They will also tend to be more positve when a crisis hits elsewhere.

Chris

Mike and Mark, Great podcast. The

Mike and Mark,
Great podcast. The solutions given are very practical. I was at the other end. (I had to undergo a major emergency surgery in 3 days notice and was away for 4 weeks, about 2 years back). The way my manager handled the situation was exactly like you described. She was caring for me with followup's thro calls to my wife and communication and informing team of my progress on a need to know basis. At the same time, she worked out back up plans as well as issues that need to be addressed in my absence. I also had a consultation with her as to who in my team can fit in for a what role before I got hospitalized. ( I was covering a regional responsibility with 3 countries and 20 sites in South Asia in MFG function and she is the Asia Pacific function head). Things went exactly to plan in those 4 weeks. (Fortunately, there was no mergers or acquisitions in that time, this American company is known to be trend setter in buy-in on a fast pace, so there were no big strategic planning needed at that time). Yes, my team did a fabulous job too, they never let her down at any stage.

Of course, this even triggered me to have a loyalty to stick to that organization for as much as I can. When you are in a developing economy like India, the opportunities that come your way for your growth and developments are mind boggling, that at some stage you consider all the other factors and you decide to change job. This is what happened, after after 1 year to me. Of course, I am in still in touch with my Ex Manager based out Australia. When I resigned,I did my best from my side by serving the full notice period to finish all the pending tasks (My present manager now based in UK, fully agreed to my request to join them after 3 months, this too is a world class organization, a fortune 30 company) as well as helping them to find a successor for my position.

Regards
Karthik.
Bangalore. India

Karthik- Great note! Thank

Karthik-

Great note! Thank you.

We didn't talk about the long term value of the manager who is compassionate in times of crisis, but you've given us a great example of it.

It's a privilege!

Mark

I am a chaplain in the Army.

I am a chaplain in the Army. Compassion and caring for people is my business. I really appreciated what was shared here. Caring for hurting people is everyone's responsibility, but a manager must focus on the mission of the business. Every company should have people in an EAP or industrial chaplaincy to take care of the emotional and benefit support in times of trial. Ideally, a person would have their own support system (I'm partial to clergy and religious congregations for some reason) to help them in their time of need. But managers needs to let others fill the role of care-giver as much as possible IMHO.

-Jim+

Jim- Well said. We think that the

Jim-

Well said. We think that the EAP or industrial chaplain ought to be:

the Manager.

Mark

Mark and Michael An idea for a future

Mark and Michael
An idea for a future cast:
Effective relocation for you and your team members.

My supervisors recently completed my probationary review and I had to write up my accomplishments. I realized in the review process the degree to which relocation stress during the first 1 1/2 years impacted my effectiveness. I also have managed two directs that have relocated during that time and witnessed the stress it put into their life.

The comments about personal crisis certainly pertain to relocation. However relocation packages are an important part of the hiring process with risks and benefits at every turn for both supervisor and employee.

I relocated for the first time in 18 years and could have done it better. You work with people all the time that manage this.

Could you add it to the list of future casts or have people offer feedback on how best to get people up and running with a minimum of stress for all concerned?

Thanks,
Ed

Ed- It's on the list. Thanks for

Ed-

It's on the list. Thanks for reminding us of its impact.

Mark

Mark, In one of your podcasts on

Mark,
In one of your podcasts on hiring you made the recommendation to contact new hires regularly, daily if need be, during the period between hiring and starting.

It works. People moving and starting in an new organization run into road blocks that are relatively trivial for an established manger to clear. The more often I talked to the people I hired, the faster I could clear the problem.

I look forward to the podcast. When you get ot it will be good.
Ed

Ed- Thanks for the validation!

Ed-

Thanks for the validation! We've seen it work ourselves.

Mark