#RedBranchWeekly: Surviving and Thriving During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the last Weekly, where we covered working from home, COVID-19 has only continued to spread. The effects of the virus have spread to the workplace. Most companies are now having their employees work from home, or are closing shop until things smooth out.

For More on COVID-19: COVID-19 Resource Pack

This crisis demands difficult choices to be made. Chances are, your business isn’t doing as well as it was two weeks ago. Everyone’s feeling the effects of this virus, whether they’ve contracted it or not. Our partners at ThinkHR, Inspire Software, and IQTalent Partners have advice to help you make those tough choices and make it through this trial.

ThinkHR: What’s the Difference Between a Furlough and a Layoff?

What will probably be the toughest choice for your company in the near future is deciding who you will have to let go. Once you decide that, how can you communicate it clearly and with empathy? To avoid any complications, you need to clearly relay your intent:

“You should note that the language used when sending employees home for a period of time is less important than communicating your actual intent. Since temporary layoffs and furloughs are only used regularly in certain industries, you should not assume that employees will know what they mean. Be sure to communicate your plans for the future, even if they feel quite uncertain or are only short-term.”

ThinkHR’s new article lays out how you can clearly differentiate both furloughs and layoffs and ensure you get your intent across to affected employees. Hopefully, if the time comes where you need to make that difficult decision, you’ll be ready.

Inspire Software: Times Like These: A Special Note From The Inspire Team

Ask anyone if this is how they saw 2020 playing out, and they’ll answer no. Yet, this is the reality we find ourselves in. In a time when many are doing their best to avoid being sick, Inspire Software offers a glimpse of hope:

“At Inspire Software, our mission is to help people and organizations thrive in their everyday work lives. As our global community shifts to survival mode, our mindset at Inspire remains the same, to help people lead and collaborate in effective ways toward common objectives—no matter what challenges we are facing.”

Inspire’s new article offers advice and insight on what we can do to make this dark time brighter. Now more than ever, we need to come together. Times may be tough right now, but together, we’ll get through this.

IQTalent Partners: How IQTalent Partners Is Helping Displaced Workers

An unfortunate side effect of COVID-19 is the increase of displaced workers. Last week, we saw the number of jobless claims surpass 695,000, which was the previous record set in 1982. For those affected by this and the tornadoes in Nashville, TN, things might look bleak. Fortunately, IQTalent Partners are here to help those in their community:

“‘We realized that we have the ability to help those in our community who have been adversely affected by the tornadoes and the virus,’ said Dustin Evans, a veteran recruiter at the firm. ‘While we may not be able to put a roof over people’s heads or rebuild the foundation of these local businesses, what we can do is get these people back on their path to employment.’”

Things are undoubtedly difficult right now, so it helps to hear some good news now and again. Read IQTalent Partners’ newest article here and share it with those who might need to hear something good for a change.

Want to see your company covered in a future #RedBranchWeekly? Get in touch with us @RedBranch!

The Branchers

We build the best damn marketing campaigns on the planet. And we do it for industries and companies you might not identify as easy to market (right away). Working here takes a very special kind of person.