The novel Coronavirus pandemic has everyone on edge.

Millions of small, medium, and large scale organizations around the world are partially or completely closed. Many are recording 100% revenue loss.  

Amidst this unprecedented situation, it is important that HR leaders rise to the occasion and respond to prevailing Coronavirus concerns.

Here in this post, we will shed light on how HR should handle Coronavirus concerns.

COVID-19 has its own set of physical symptoms, but with 1 in 5 Americans suffering from some form of mental illness, this period of uncertainty is not the time to let mental health take a back seat.

A recent study shows that nearly 7 in 10 employees report that the COVID-19 pandemic is the most stressful time of their entire professional career. These high stress levels are reflected in the increase of prescriptions filled in mid-March with 78% of all anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-insomnia prescriptions being filled as new prescriptions.  

Did you know that 1 in 10 phishing emails succeed?

It can be really difficult to differentiate between a phishing email and a real email. Hackers study patterns and use technology to help imitate people making emails looks like they’re coming from someone you know or trust.

Although there is no way to completely stop the attacks, organizations are investing in software and providing training to employees to help mitigate the risk associated with phishing schemes. 

In a time of extreme weather and extreme news coverage about both mother nature and man-made disasters, it can help to ease the fears of employees to plan for the worst. Many companies and HR departments have started to build communication plans directly into the Employee Handbook so employees have a strategy to refer to in the unlikely event of a crisis.

And while what we care most about during a crisis are very human issues — emotions, safety, family — in the midst of chaos, it’s technology that’s going to be the first and best way to stay connected. Here are a few tools and strategies you might consider having in place to communicate with your team in the face of the unexpected.