Practicing kindness during pandemic underscores our humanity
One of our team members is in poor health and lives alone in an apartment.
Knowing this, one of her supervisors drove 45 minutes to her home to drop off bags of food and toilet paper, depositing the items safely outside her door. When she saw this act of kindness, she cried tears of gratitude. The items were not costly, but the impact was priceless.
Another teammate has been delivering kits to employees who are helping with mailings from home. Honoring social distancing guidelines, he also leaves “care bags” with notes, non-perishables, candy and squeezable stress balls to help break the monotony for teammates. It is his way of maintaining a personal connection during the COVID-19 lock-down.
While we can’t give hugs, execute grand gestures or invade someone’s 6-foot radius, we can do little things that mean a lot.
How we behave during this crisis will leave an indelible imprint on us all. Optimism, honesty and confidence will endure.
Now more than ever, employees are craving leadership. They will remember who remembers them.
We’ve had some furloughs but also are still hiring during this distressing time. We are blessed to attract and keep them, mainly because we check in with them frequently, and employees know we care. Even leaving a voice message is appreciated. I call teammates with no agenda, and I always say, “If you need anything, let me know.”
One employee made a major on-the-job mistake that I knew was haunting him. I called him and we talked about it. But the call was not an accusatory follow-up or to take disciplinary action. My opening was, “I heard you had a hard day.”
Being supportive rather than suspicious of our team members makes a world of difference. Especially as we battle this strange new stressors, remaining close while remaining distant will help us triumph together in this war against an invisible, undiscriminating threat.
Dasher is a data-driven, customer contact services operation with a focus on communicating complex messages to diverse populations. Specific capabilities include face-to-face communications provided by our field teams, customer engagement strategies provided by our call center and member engagement staff, and secure, complex, variable mailing services provided by our production team. Dasher is an experienced Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MWDBE) with a bestselling book, “The Talent Pool,” and is certified by AICPA with the SOC2SM Type2 data certification and validation.