Coronavirus Business & Leadership Response Resources

The COVID-19 outbreak has been extremely disruptive to businesses and their people. As business leaders, in moments of uncertainty or change, employees look to management for stability, reassurance, and a clear path to the light at the end of the tunnel. But how can you be the leader they need when you may not even have all the answers yourself?

BEST is prepared to help your business with a variety of assistance and resources including: 

• Assessment of human capital risks, and analyze and advise on critical human capital expenses
• Interim HR leadership 
• Policy updates based on the ever-changing legal landscape, and ethical decision making for employee retention 
• Engagement of your remote workforce 
• Connection to a deep network of crisis professionals 

We understand that there is no pre-written playbook for addressing the myriad of challenges businesses are facing during a pandemic. As human resource leaders, we want to extend our expertise to you and offer support wherever we can. We have certified SHRM personnel and a variety of resources available to answer any HR questions or concerns as companies are making strategic decisions.  

The following are some useful tools, resources, and information. In times like these, it is essential to focus on the most critical asset we have in our business: our people.

ARTICLE in “Greenhouse Management” Magazine  By Michael Maggiotto, Jr. and Matthew Pope
Post-Pandemic Checklist: A Human Resource Guide to Normalization of Business Operations – Whether your company has ten (10) employees or ten thousand (10,000), each will be sued the same way when employment laws are violated. Special consideration given due to the pandemic will not save your organization from being one of those. As we look at re-opening businesses…

We have put together a special Post-Pandemic Checklist — A Human Resource Guide to Normalization of Business Operations (PDF) for your review and use.

By Todd Downing and Ben Molenda

Click here for the article. Despite the immense challenges thrust upon all businesses during the pandemic, the Green Industry has experienced positive, and some would say unprecedented growth.  The stresses you have responded to in running your business with an…

Featuring Todd Downing & Michael Maggiotto, Jr.

Click here for the article. Experts weigh in on how employers should navigate the current ‘new normal’ and future crises, alike. During the last six months, the word “coronavirus” has become…

Click here for the study. For many of us, there have been times when WFH has felt a lot like WTH. So what do we know about employee productivity during lockdowns? Researchers at Harvard and NYU collected data across three continents to find out in a major study entitled: “Collaborating During Coronavirus: The Impact of Covid-19 on the Nature Of Work.” The main takeaways:

• The average workday increased by 48.5 minutes.
• The number of emails sent to colleagues (+1.4 per day).
• The number of meetings per person has increased (+12.9%) and the number of attendees (+13.5%).
• However, the length of those meetings was much shorter (-11.5%), meaning overall, we’re spending less time in meetings than before COVID-19. A positive!

Article By Todd Downing

Click here for the article. As company leaders, our task is to manage the efficient restart of our companies. Regardless of the industry sector or how positively or negatively positioned a company has been through the COVID-19 crisis…

Article By  Jennifer Broersma-Neujahr

Click here for the article. I recently posted this same exercise on my LinkedIn page and received some excellent and thought-provoking responses, like this comment from Todd Downing, a Managing Partner at Best Human Capital & Advisory Group…

Article By Todd Downing

Click here for the article. Regardless of how positively or negatively positioned your company has been through the COVID-19 crisis, we face a new business normal to varying degrees. As company leaders, our task is to manage the efficient restart or growth of our companies and our employees to come back…

By Michael Maggiotto, Jr. PHR, SHRM-SCP
An employer can use these forms with employees for self-certification before they return to the workplace either as a safety measure prior to starting a shift, or if they have been ill with COVID-19 or have had close contact with an individual diagnosed or showing symptoms of COVID-19. These forms add another layer of protection, helping businesses demonstrate they are taking all reasonable precautions to keep their worksites safe and could go a long way to reducing anxiety by employees and the chance of potential lawsuits.

Templates for Your Use: The following editable Word DOCX files may be used by your organization with your people.

COVID-19 Self-Certification Prior to Shift (.docx file)
The file contains employer Instructions, guidelines, and a form that may be customized and used by the company for self-certifying employees prior to the start of their shift.

Self-Certification to Return to Work after COVID-19 Exposure & Symptoms (.docx file)
Contains employer Instructions, guidelines, and a form that may be customized and used by the company for self-certifying employees prior to their return— if they have had symptoms of COVID-19, they have had close contact with an individual diagnosed or showing symptoms of COVID-19, or have been directed to self-isolate or quarantine by your health care provider or a public health official.

If you would like to personalize these templates to reflect specific aspects of your culture or require more HR expertise pertaining to normalizing your operations, please contact BEST today.

Our partner, Emplify, a leading employee engagement firm, has just updated their free tool for managers. They developed this tool to gauge the well-being, remote readiness, and specific needs of their teams during this global health crisis and now have added a WFH component. For the first time employee burnout isn’t being caused by work. The unique challenges of working from home are affecting your team’s mental well-being and overall productivity. 

This tool is designed to help leaders get the feedback they need to navigate work from home situations. In just two steps this assessment can help you: 

• Understand how your team is doing while working from home in the midst of this crisis.
• Identify your employee’s feelings on burnout, workspace setup, rest, autonomy, and flexibility
• Measure your team’s alignment to company direction and goals

We all know how hard it is for managers to move quickly and support their teams in times like these. That’s why Emplify created this tool. It is self-service and should take you or your management team less than 10 minutes to set up, and they will have feedback within three days. Feel free to take a look at emplify.com/wellbeing. 

ARTICLE in “Green Profit” Magazine  By Michael Maggiotto, Jr. and Matthew Pope
Post-Pandemic Checklist: A Human Resource Guide to Normalization of Business Operations – Whether your company has ten (10) employees or ten thousand (10,000), each will be sued the same way when employment laws are violated. Special consideration given due to the pandemic will not save your organization from being one of those. As we look at re-opening businesses…

UPDATED: MAY 4, 2020. To assist your business in planning for your return, we have put together a special Post-Pandemic Checklist — A Human Resource Guide to Normalization of Business Operations (PDF) for your review and use.

Article By Tom McInerney, M4 Advisors

Click here for an interesting and timely article on cash flow forecasting. Tom McInerney strongly recommends to his clients that they invest the time and resources towards developing a basic but often overlooked management tool: a 13-week cash flow forecast model (the cash flow forecast). He takes a closer look at the key components of a cash flow forecast as well as a few of its key benefits, namely in empowering organizations to make thoughtful, informed decisions that are data-driven in nature.

How can we help? Click here for more information on Tom McInerney and M4 Advisors.

Article By Todd Downing & Michael Maggiotto, Jr. PHR, SHRM-SCP

Click here for the article. Everyone has good days and bad days, no matter where they work. The biggest differences between good and bad days are proper planning and preparation. For a business, there is no worse day than when a disaster happens…

Our Friends at HR Morning have put together an excellent “cheat sheet” and handy at-a-glance guide on new FMLA regulations. There are so many twists and turns in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) rulebook that it helps to keep a good, reliable cheat sheet nearby – like this one. On the following pages are some of the more common FMLA questions you’ll run into – and the answers.

The FFCRA provides tax credits under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA), and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (FMLA Expansion). However, there is a lot of information to dig through to find the tax credits for which you would qualify. JD Supra LLC. provides an excellent visual aide to receiving tax credits for paid leave required under the FFCRA.

Click here or the PDF symbol to download the PDF from their web site.

Click above to download a poster (PDF) to print and post.

Employee Expanded Family and Medical Leave Rights

Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act 2020 (FFCRA) on March 18, 2020, to help employees and their families with paid leave during the COVID-19 outbreak. This new compliance impacts businesses with 500 or fewer employees and goes into effect on April 1, 2020. Employers will be required to develop a policy that aligns with this new requirement to pay part-time and full-time employees who have been employed at least 30 days for specific COVID-19 related events.

If your business does not have a professional team or is stretched too thin without time to complete this required policy update for your employee handbooks, please contact BEST Human Capital & Advisory Group. We would be happy to craft the perfect compliant policy that aligns with your unique company and culture.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. DEPT. OF LABOR FFCRA INFORMATION.

By Michael Maggiotto, Jr.
Click here for the CropTalk Podcast. On this episode of the CropTalk series, #KyleTalksAgTech, Kyle Barnett speaks with Michael Maggiotto of BEST Human Capital & Advisory Group about how business can best handle the COVID-19 pandemic with HR strategies and solutions everyone can use to get through this uncertain period.

Click above to download (PDF).

Small Business Guide & Checklist

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, starting April 3, small businesses and sole proprietorships can apply for loans through existing SBA lenders. Starting April 10, independent contractors and self-employed individuals can apply for loans through existing SBA lenders. Other regulated lenders will be available to make these loans as soon as they are approved and enrolled in the program.

Click here for the following on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce web site:

• Your loan eligibility.
  
• What lenders are looking for?
• How much you can borrow.
• Loan forgiveness guidelines.

Leaders: in moments of uncertainty or change, employees look to you for stability, reassurance, and a clear path to the light at the end of the tunnel. But how can you be the leader they need when you may not have all the answers yourself?

Join panelists Adam Weber, Chief People Officer at Emplify, Steve Baker, Vice President at Great Game of Business, and Andrew Appel, President & CEO of Gregory & Appel as they share their experiences and answer your questions on leading through times of change.

Excellent report from our friends at FTI Consulting on how the supply chain is being disrupted by the Coronavirus. Originally released on March 9, 2020.

Businesses are not immune to times of crisis, especially considering the recent global COVID-19 outbreak. At some point, a company will suffer financial, operational, or other types of distress. Many factors can contribute to or create an emergency, and they are not limited to a weak economy or internal problems.

If your business has entered a period of distress, BEST will partner with you to identify the right restructuring professional to solve your business’s unique challenge.