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Human resources departments have the difficult job of helping employees navigate through a lot of change right now: working from home, changing processes, potential furloughs, and more. Luckily, Lisa Van Ess, Vice President of People & Culture at Magic Hat Consulting is here to help. 

Links

• Lisa Van Ess on LinkedIn
• Magic Hat Consulting
• Handling Tech while Working Remotely with Erik Gudmundson
• How Insurance Can Protect You in a Pandemic with Austin Morris, Jr.
• CareerLink

Notes

How should HR departments and leaders be responding to COVID-19? 

• HR should look at employees like clients, and they should look to be accessible to their clients. 
• Now is a time to be “human, vulnerable, and authentic.”
• “It’s a time to challenge the norms.”
• HR also needs to stay informed to changes within the county and state.
  • What is shut down? What is an essential worker and an essential business?
  • Laws / policies are changing hourly.
• Be decisive and strike a balance being an employee advocate with what’s best for the employer.
  • Know what you don’t know. 
• Work from home environment
  • People get work done when you’re not looking at them. 
  • Easily understood, effective
  • Services haven’t changed – it’s the environment that has changed.
  • Manage performance based on the quality of work – not where it’s done.
  • Agile practices – Check-in / SCRUM
    • Check in at the end of day as well. Helps connection and focus. 

What key tasks need to be addressed in light of all the change that has been happening and is likely to continue happening?

• BIG change: use of Zoom
  • Have has security issues
  • Orchestrating policy for video policy 
  • Human side: give some time to get ready 
• “Can we have a video conference or meeting?”
• Keeping Schedules / Meetings
  • Know your people and what they need. 
• Suggestion: start with a text. Low commitment, you can add humor and gifs.
  • Ask permission before a call or video.
• Text on phone = informal. Chat clients = more formal / work
• “Ask how people are, really.” Have a pulse on how your people are doing. 
  • Checking in with your people is super important. 
  • It can get lonely at the top. C-Suite generally get forgotten.

How are or how should HR change the way that they support their folks in a coronavirus world?

• Now is a good time for a lot of benefit brokers to share information. Push it out to your employees.
  • E.g.: Is insurance covering telemedicine?
• Do some development and training / coaching.
  • Help your employees grow while at home.
  • eLearning via Zoom, for example.
  • Day-to-day admin has changed.

How are or how should HR change the way that they communicate with their folks in a coronavirus world?

• What if you have to furlough, reduce staff, etc.
  • Be honest and transparent.
  • These are hard things because these layoffs are due to outside forces, not some performance issue.
  • Be available.
• “You wanna be in HR? Be a business person first.” – Lenny LaRosa
• “The only surprise to give an employee is a bigger bonus.” 

The post Leadership in Human Resources with Lisa Van Ess appeared first on Start Local.

The Chester Countys Commissioners set up a $5M fund to establish the Main Street Preservation program. This program allows for grants of up to $25,000 for the county’s small businesses and agriculture enterprises impacted by COVID-19. Here to talk about it with us today is Marian Moskowitz, a recently elected Chester County Commissioner, Chair of the Board of Commissioners, and Chair of the Economic Development Council.

Links

• Main Street Preservation Grant Program
• About Marian Moskowitz
• Chester County website
• Chester County business information
• Getting Economic Assistance with Michael Grigalonis

Show Notes

Main Street Preservation Grant

• The Board of Commissioners decided to take CARES money and put $5M towards the grant program.
• It’s designed to help small businesses with revenue of $500,000 or less. 
  • Grant is up to $25,000
  • Award money is based on location, expenses, amounts of assistance received already, and other factors
• The County wants to help existing businesses stay open and in business, so that those businesses are ready to go as the county starts to open up.

Apply: May 11th, 5am-9pm. Apply for the Main Street Preservation grant here.

What kind information do businesses need to apply?

• 2019 income statement, provide expenses and income details.
• If you’re seasonal, they’ll look at the 2nd quarter of last year. 
• Businesses started in 2020 do not qualify.

What has the county been doing since COVID-19 hit the USA (a brief timeline)?

• The Chester County Health Dept. began monitoring the COVID-19 situation in February.
• Once news came in, the County leadership came up with a plan, which was ready by March 13th. 
• The County held its first COVID-19 town hall on Mar 17th
• The team at the County has worked hard to keep the local business community informed
• March 19th – took over the management of health needs of Delaware Co too. 
• Last week, the County started a Business Task Force. 
  • Designed to get input for reopening / repairing / restoring community
  • Core team
    • Chambers of Commerce, tourism groups, EDC
  • Advisory Team
    • Different industries
    • Restaurants, gyms, agricultural, etc.
  • Always good to have a think tank

Is there a message that the county would like to share with local businesses?

• In terms of preparation or sustainability, businesses should start thinking about the hard questions.
  • What does an employer do when an employee is afraid to come back to work?
• One big thing is communication: Have real dialog with your staff because you’re all in this together. 
• Reach out and see how they’re doing. 
• They are the key to getting you back in business again. 

The post Main Street Preservation Grants with Marian Moskowitz appeared first on Start Local.

With all of Pennsylvania still under stay at home orders, businesses pivoting to online has been crucial to staying in business. Marty McDonald runs a full service Digital Media Agency in West Chester, and has been helping his clients weather the storm with digital marketing services. In this episode, he offers some great advice to businesses looking to grow their online presence.

Find Marty McDonald

• Marty on Twitter: @martymjm
• Bad Rhino
• Bad Rhino on Twitter: @badrhinoinc
• Email [email protected] and mention Start Local!

Show Notes

What businesses need to be aware of during this time:

• Lots of in-person companies weren’t sure what to do
• Virtual estimates started to crop up in the construction industry
• The right tone is so important! Rewrite content to suit our changed world.
  • Make sure your copy is appropriate
  • Rewrite it if it’s not.
• eCommerce started seeing awesome results right away
• On Having a sale now:
  • Look at why you’re doing something
  • Don’t just make it a COVID-19 cash grab
• How can you help other businesses? Take a new look at their business, and determine what they need.

Everyone is wondering how they participate in this kind of economy 

• People are looking for flexibility and empathy
• You have to have a sense of purpose and a sense of where you’re going

Tips for businesses to keep going:

• Restaurants – take out / be safe
• Virtual estimates have been booming, especially in the construction industry
• “You start to see innovation”
  • AirBnB host upgraded properties, are starting to see uptick in inquiries and bookings
  • You Probably Need a Haircut
• How many people are going to continue to home school? 
• Good communication is SO important.
• Many businesses are finally starting to see why a good email or SMS list is so important.

For businesses that haven’t invested in digital marketing, where should they start? 

• If you haven’t been advertising, understand how they work – before you invest money. 
• When no one is advertising, things can become very inexpensive. 
• What’s happening now is: Everyone wants to advertise, so you’ll see a huge spike in the price. 
• Have someone who knows what they’re doing help get your online advertising campaign off the ground

The post Social Media Marketing with Marty McDonald appeared first on Start Local.

Austin Morris, Jr. is an insurance broker that really knows his stuff! And in this episode, he’s going to run through all sorts of different insurance policies you have or should have, and how they might be able to protect you from some losses during COVID-19. He makes it clear that policies are pretty clear when it comes to viruses, but that doesn’t means there’s nothing you can do. (And no, Austin is not an attorney and is not offering specific advice or counsel.)

Contact Austin

• Morris Risk Management LLC
• Office: 215-947-9200
• Austin Morris, Jr. on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-morris-jr-ab192b9/

Show Notes

General insurance considerations for COVID-19

• “Insurance policy is a contract”
  • Refer to your policy and your agent!
• Understand your losses and your policies. These clauses could protect you:
  • First party property – losses and damage 
  • Contingent losses – Damage due to vendor actions or issues
  • Coverage due to order of the government
• The main question is, “Does the presence of COVID-19 cause any property damage or cause losses?”
  • This could be affected services that needed to close.
  • It could also be ontingent business interruptions
• There are usually exclusions of biological agents
  • Viruses / Bacteria / Both
  • However, Insurance is governed by state laws
• Lawsuits are arguing that “COVID-19 is similar to a natural disaster,” which often is covered by insurance.

2. What about other types of insurance?

• Worker’s Comp
  • Is COVID-19 an occupational disease?
  • It would arise out the scope of the work. 
  • Illness must arise from order of the work, and unique to the particular work as compared to the gen po. 
  • Grocery Store personnelle might not be, but Health Care Workers could be covered
• Auto Insurance
  • Almost All companies are returning premiums because people are driving less. 
• Cyber Security Policies 
  • Everyone should have this!
  • Cyber Crime is going through the roof. Hear more about that in Episode 2 with Erik Gudmundson.
  • Investment in cyber security is going down. 

3. Insurance as a Contract

• Carefully read the policy language so you know what’s covered. 
• You should see insurance as an investment, not a cost.

The post How Insurance Can Protect You in a Pandemic with Austin Morris, Jr. appeared first on Start Local.

Erik Gudmundson is the VP of Business Development at Pegasus Technologies, a company that provides an IT department to businesses which don’t have their own. As most of the workforce is now at home, Erik provides some great information on how to do that effectively, what to think about, and how to stay safe.

Show Notes

• Pegasus Technologies Blog
• Erik Gudmundson on LinkedIn
• Pegasus Technologies on Twitter: @PegasusTechs
• Pegasus Technologies on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PegasusTechnologiesLLC/

Episode Highlights

What is your advice to businesses who have been blindsided by the need to work remotely?

• It’s mostly about educating your employees
• The approach should not be technology first, it should be people first. Tech is just used to accomplished goals.
• Ask: “What do your people need? What your vendors need?” 

How do you know what your people need?

• Do regular calls with the staff and vendors to figure it out
• How do we make a more personal connection when we need to “Call”? 
  • Video conferencing can help. This has really taken off. 
  • Prediction: Video Conferencing is here to stay. 
  • This has enabled so much more empathy because we can see who we’re talking to. 
• What kind of questions would you ask your clients?
  • What do you need to service your clients at the same levels?
• Problems generally come when there are inappropriately assumed expectations.

How is Pegasus Technology changing the way it works? What about the need to serve clients on-site?

• Historically there is no substitute for doing on-site work. 
• The reality is that Pegasus can still do that as an essential business, BUT they don’t want to do it for a random reason. 
• Taking advantage of tools for first time!
• “We do not have one particular vertical” 
  • Many clients are in food supply chain
    • Much of that is dependent on computers
  • Law offices / Financial Advisors are work from home
• When it first hit, they were busier than every as people adjusted

What can businesses who have not invested in IT can do to get started?

• Lots of info on their website / blog
• Many tools are free / freemium
• Keep Cyber Security in mind. Massive uptick in attacks. 
  • People are distracted and not paying attention. 

The post Handling Tech while Working Remotely with Erik Gudmundson appeared first on Start Local.