Empathy Is A Worthy Skill In Managing Your COVID 19 Infected Employee’s Return To Work

Preamble

COVID 19 continues to showcase itself as a pandemic beyond the walls of the hospital. In other words, it is more than a problem of doctors managing the victims and public health, but also a problem for business leaders since it already has political leadership folding up their shirtsleeves in the battlefront. Businesses must identify with the challenges of the returning employment and make accommodation for the management of their full recovery. Being diagnosed as COVID 19 negative is the beginning of months of nutritional, physical, and mental well-being for the victim.

Empathy Not Discrimination Is A Smart Manager’s Weapon

I am convinced that if this manager were to read this article, she would be so embarrassed that she would deny the consequences of her actions. Yet, more importantly, the lesson lies in understanding the management of the employee returning to work after surviving a COVID 19 infection. While empathy is proper it is important to understand these victims have a plethora of sub-clinical health challenges that they are coping with, and do not require additional psychological stressors. Such management require that managers be up to par with knowledge of the effects of the disease. It is probably a new challenge of business recovery as businesses progress with inviting employees back to the building.

For someone who struggles with breathing after climbing a single flight of stairs, thirty push-ups are a very challenging demand. The same applies to mental recovery. I find many people frustrated that it takes me so long to assimilate simple instructions. Some have been irritated to the extent of shouting at me because I kept on staring at them instead of acting on what I was told about. Now I know that it is one thing hear the message and understand it, it is a totally different process make it happen. The delay is still worrying two after being declared COVID 19 negative even though the gap continues to arrow. Essentially, if you must manage this correctly, you cannot treat that employee as if they were leprous, and about to infect everyone else.

By some apparently smart permutations, his workplace had moved near the door rather than in-between two employers and directly facing the opposite one. The only person nearby is always reminded to keep his masks on throughout the day. It took a while, but the arrangement was decoded. Significantly, when the employee was away nursing the illness, the manager had sent a mail in the group chat urging anyone else who had COVID symptoms to own right away. We saw that but we dismissed it as an attempt to stem the transmissibility of the infection. Remember that many infected people do not even realize this until later if the symptoms become clinical enough to disrupt their daily existence. Many others, particularly younger people go through the infection and never considered their symptoms severe enough to warrant diagnosis and treatment.

As people reacted to her chat in funny ways, she came back insisting that she was serious and was not interest in carrying the disease home to her family. Then, someone reminded her that cats and dogs appear exempt from the disease. She has a dog and a cat, and that is her family. Essentially, she was hysterical and did not manage the situation well. I am certain that the contractor was notified as a safety and preventive measure so that he should inform his staff and monitor them because my friend worked in close contact with them. Whatever the process employed, the psychological outcome on this employee was uncalled for. If this person went ahead with suicide, there will be heavier guilt being passed around, but the manager would have been directly responsible.

Conclusion

Smart leaders are considerate in their speech and actions. They are acutely aware of their responsibilities and ethically guide interactions with their staff and visitors to their area of supervision. The employee returning to work following a COVID 19 has nutritional, physical and mental challenges and must be managed as such. The solution is in caring to learn, the care helps healing rather being pushed towards a terminal catastrophe.

Author:

Noah The Cultist, author of Target The Executive Suite studies the influence of workplace culture on career growth within business organizations. He reaches out to young managers for mentoring at various levels.