Good morning, welcome to my latest edition of Monday Morning Briefing.
I’m going to jump right in and talk about the one topic I have reserved to discuss today, and that is, the fact that much of our workforce, society, nation, and I’ll say, planet, is massively struggling right now. It’s hard to put a label on exactly what all this is, because I think it’s the culmination of a lot of factors. Coming out of a worldwide pandemic is certainly at the top. But some of this angst and frustration was building even before, and then we took all of it and shut it down, closed everyone off from each other, stuck us all in little Petrie dishes where all we had was ourselves and social media, and watched everyone’s neuroses germinate and fester like a bad science experiment.
And then, the world reopened. Many people had lost loved ones, jobs, homes, support systems. If they were parents, in many cases their kids were playing catch up in school and looking for help, but neither the parents nor the teachers were given training or resources on how to assist with the transition. People were back to work but were they? The whole hybrid thing was tricky. Some people didn’t even fit back into their old clothes. Some people were afraid to go out. The world was back to normal, but what WAS the new normal?
And no one, nowhere, was talking about this. Nobody was admitting that the transition was . . .hard. That we probably all just needed a little support, emotionally, with the adjustment. Because to do so would look like weakness, and the folks in power don’t want to admit that. Because then the folks not in power would point fingers. When really, this is normal and expected and nobody’s fault. But people want to blame someone, because that is how things work these days.
I couldn’t help but think of Albert Finney’s great role in “Network,” which came decades before all of this, nearly 50 years ago now (and if you haven’t seen the film, Faye Dunaway at her best).
But blaming governments aside, the issue is there. The sooner we accept it and get on to the helping part, the better. We see the struggles manifesting in oh so many ways. People are breaking down around us. I had decided to write about this topic anyway this week, but what clinched it was this news piece about a Southwest Airlines flight that was forced to deplane an entire plane full of passengers when a man had a meltdown over a baby crying.
I am going to copy and paste the clip here, because if you have the stomach for it on a Monday, you have to hear this man shouting profanities over this baby crying. I would have quoted some of his tantrums, but there were too many “F-bombs” for me to bleep out, and this is a PG rated blog. So listen to the clip with full warning.
So, why am I talking about movies and airplanes? Because all of this makes its way into the workplace as well. I said early on in 2023, if 2022 was the year of “quiet quitting,” 2023 is the year when employees don’t quit; they hang on but make their distress more apparent. Several of you have shared stories with me about your employees’ cries for help. One of you have told me about employees using the Suicide Hotline. In one day, I had TWO calls from two separate clients, both dealing with employees and substance abuse issues. The next week, I had a call from a client dealing with an employee who we suspect has some bi-polar or similar related issues.
Many of you have called me in the last few months with similar stories – employees dealing the stress, depression, mood swings, attendance issues, in much greater frequency that we have ever seen. And of course, we have all seen on the news the extreme end of this, when employees are at the center of mass shootings and other workplace violence.
So, what can we do? This is obviously a societal issue; we aren’t mental health professionals, and this issue is way bigger than our workplaces. And yet, there are things, sometimes little things, sometimes bigger things, that you can do given the struggles that so many seem to facing right now.
- Ground yourself first. You know I always say this; usually I end my Briefings with it. But I am starting with it, because it’s actually really important. You cannot deal with the stress and trauma of others unless you are strong enough to do so. Trust me, I do this all day long. Do what you need to get yourself rest, stay healthy, eat well, stay balanced. Then, and only then, can you assist others with their oxygen masks. And if you need to call and vent to me, I am a good sounding board.
- Be aware of the signs when people may need help. People don’t always ask or even know how to ask. Remember, as employers, if we have signs that someone has the need for a leave or an accommodation, for example, we need to volunteer that we have policies that can assist. We should not just sit back and let an employee struggle with attendance issues that turn into disciplinary issues if we believe that an employee might need a leave of absence, for example. It is not an invasion of privacy to sit down and discuss those issues and ask if there is something causing the absences. There also may be opportunities to offer an accommodation if we believe an employee may have such a disability. Again, this is not an unlawful inquiry; to the contrary, if the employer is put on notice of such a need, the employer should engage in this dialogue. If the employee says no, then there may be nothing more you can do. These are delicate discussions, and we are here to help you walk through them.
- Train your managers to be aware of these signs, too. Often it is our managers who we see struggling, but sometimes it is not – it may even be staff, students, tenants, vendors, regular customers. Depending on the relationship, obviously, your involvement may be different. But your managers should be trained on how to look for and respond to behavior that may be concerning, and also, how to address that behavior in a way that is appropriate and not escalating.
- Provide support, team building and stress reducing resources. Not everything about this topic has to be negative. Yes, we have some individuals who are struggling in very discreet and sometimes more severe ways, but we also sometimes just have employees who can benefit from some day to day activities that can help bring us back together as a workforce or reduce the stress. I have offered up some examples of my own office before, because I think we do such a marvelous job of this. We have a Wellness Committee that plans events like the Golf Day we just had, but also our ten minute Mindful Meditation that we have almost every week, led by our name partner, Miles Feldman. Miles is the perfect example of one of the most talented and intense trial litigators I know, and yet, he incorporates meditation into his life every morning as his way to make sure he stays balanced. I really try to grab his ten minute classes, either on zoom or in the office, because I find that the rest of my day is calmer if I do. Our office also offers weekly zoom yoga (we did all through the pandemic). I would die without my weekly killer spin class taught by the fastest real estate attorney alive, Andrew Raines.
While team building and stress relief in the workplace is extremely important, I actually think the most important, number one thing that ALL employers should consider in 2023 is to provide an EMPLOYER ASSISTANCE PLAN. If you do not have one, please, consider providing one. If you do have one, please, spend more time promoting it. Most likely you employees who could use these resources and are probably too embarrassed to ask, right now.
If you are left wondering how you might train your managers about this topic, and you have not conducted your harassment training in a little while, I have a solution for you. I have incorporated a bit of this topic into the anti-bullying portion of my harassment training, so you could take care of both issues at the same time (I was going to say kill two birds . . but that seemed like a poor choice of metaphor).
Okay, we’ve spent enough time trying to take care of humanity. Next week we will go back to something a lot more legal, like the fact that they have scheduled the oral argument of Adolph v Uber for the first week of May. See, that got you all excited, didn’t it?
And for those who celebrate – Happy Draft Day. Anyone taking bets on where my (soon to be former) QB is going to land this week??
#StandWithUkraine