Be present and keep talking…..

2020, the adventure continues….

There is no doubt about it 2020 has brought its challenges, unforeseen, unwelcome and for some very frightening.

At a time when everything seems far from ‘normal’, at McKinney HR we’ve managed to maintain ‘business as usual’, which brings with it a level of reassurance and comfort during these challenging times.

With a team of specialist Human Resources and Organisational Development professionals already working remotely and flexibly, we were well placed to slot in with the need for all to work from home. Before long, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype to name but a few became our friends and the virtual contact with our clients was welcome at a time when face to face interactions were being shut down.

At the outset of the pandemic, we took the time to maintain the wellbeing of the team through regular ‘check ins’, we focused on what we could do to support our clients, both existing and new, and we ensured that we had systems in place to enable us to continue

‘to empower workplaces to be inclusive, productive, healthy and fair’.

For the majority it has shown us all the need to be agile, to adapt and live with uncertainty and change day to day, professionally and personally.

We have all had to learn new talents such as leading and participating in virtual meetings, managing people and services remotely, and how to manage ourselves day to day, and of course we have all learned how to make banana bread 😊, and how to build and maintain relationships with the people, we work with and care about, from a distance.

For many it has been a time to live “lean”, managing finances very consciously, not knowing what financial challenges are ahead, for others, businesses and or services have flourished and have struggled to meet the demands.

Providing support…

We have listened and supported our friends, family and clients as they made changes, adapted, quite often at a pace, managing a range of emotions and complex issues.

Working with our clients we have adapted to meet their needs in the here and now, with one eye on future aspirations and plans. 2020 has been one of our busiest years as we strive to focus on the moments that matter, making a real and lasting difference to the people and organisations we serve.

We have provided on-line mediation where relationships have experienced temporary difficulties, supporting individuals and teams to meet and establish better and more effective ways of working and communicating, always getting to the root causes of the conflict and working hard to agree meaningful ways forward.

We have continued to be expert investigators, adapting to an on-line approach with ease, supporting organisations to investigate complaints and grievances using a tried and tested approach, which always gets to the heart of the issues and establishes the facts.

We have coached managers and senior leaders as they have scenario planned, developed and implemented immediate and long term goals, focusing on the here and now, with one eye on their future aspirations.

We have supported clients with case management guiding them through the resolution journey whatever that may be.

Most importantly, we have listened, supported and challenged our clients, to continue to provide the best products and or services, whilst caring for their people, recognising that this is a time to provide human leadership – leadership that recognises that “traditional” approaches to working don’t apply for now and may never again.

We have developed policies and procedures to help our clients navigate the complexities of flexible and virtual working – providing boundaries and guidance.

We have supported organisations to review their organisation design, putting in place structures, roles and consultation models to help them achieve their immediate goals and implement and embed their longer term strategies and plans.

We have worked with senior teams as they develop their team effectiveness, recognising that their ways of working, need to adapt to suit the current environment.

We continue to do good work, educating others on the “difficult” subjects such as how to support employees experiencing domestic abuse, how to speak up against bullying and or harassment and how to help people exit organisations respectfully.

So what have we learned……

• We all need to keep talking, listening and having the difficult conversations when required – not allowing stuff to fester.
• We need to develop a deep sense of presence, COVID has taught us that scenario planning, developing strategies and risk registers, policies and procedures, are important but quite often the big challenges we face are unplanned and can happen overnight, and often we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
• Ruminating about the past or the future is helpful at times, but the present moment is where we can make a difference – where we can all create and participate in moments that matter.

People will remember this time, they will remember the organisations and or individuals who went above and beyond to help them, who showed them that they cared and they will sadly remember the ones who they believe, let them down. Moving forward people will make informed choices about who they work for, how they work and who they buy products or services from.

Our team strive to create moments that matter, for our clients, to do good work, because we care and we want to be part of our client’s successful future.

If we can help you in anyway during this time, please contact us, you know where we are…

Stay safe, keep healthy and we look forward to working with you.

Be present and keep talking