Panelists

• Ms. Hannah Ashiokai Akrong – Human Resource Director (Vodafone Ghana)
• Mr. Richard Dick Solomon – Principal Consultant and Managing Director of Development (Con Consulting Centre – Trinidad and Tobago)
• Prof. Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah – Head of Department of Organization and Human Resource Management (University of Ghana)
• Mr. Reginald Mark-Hansen – Head (Predictive Excellence Company)

ENGAGE EMPLOYEES 

Speaking on the topic, Ms. Hannah Ashiokai Akrong indicated that the wins of an organisation were contingent on the resilience of employees and hence leaders of organisations should deem it necessary to adequately engage their employees, especially those working from home. 

“One way to keep people engaged while they are not working together is to have regular employee forums thus, have the CEO or the leadership team to talk about the state of the business…get to know your employees outside the office space and make work fun. On virtual meetings you can play a fun Q&A games, ask employees to generate fun ideas and keep it going. When you create a fun atmosphere, it breaks that barrier and people are more open to engage with one another and most importantly to come to you as a line manager to have difficult discussion,” she said. 

DISCONNECTION 

She added that engagement of employees was needful because when some people had to work remotely, they easily disconnected from the core team. 

“Therefore leaders should not allow people to feel disconnected because once that feeling starts setting in, people really do not care what is going on, and it affects their productivity as well,” Ms. Akrong said.  

She further stressed the need for organizations that were still operating in their offices to strengthen the adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols adding “an organization that wins is the one that cares for its employees”.  

“Employees will remember how you treated them during this pandemic. So it is in your responsibility to put in place the necessary protocol to protect their health, safety and wellbeing,” she said. 

ADAPT TO CHANGES  

Mr. Richard Dick Solomon advised leaders of organizations to swiftly adapt to the change brought by the coronavirus (COVID-19). He reminded that COVID-19 would linger for a long while; hence leaders should embrace the “new normal” and take necessary actions to keep their organisations afloat. 

“You will not see a return to that level of previous normalcy, therefore, it requires that leaders take a different way of facilitating their organisations,” he said. 

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION 

He explained that for an organization to win during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders have to evaluate performance of employees not their presence at the office. Mr. Solomon therefore said organizations had to engage the right people with the right competence, skill, knowledge and attitude who could work effectively and efficiently even under no supervision. 

He further stated that there was the need for organisations to pay maximum attention to their customers’ needs “because if you do not have customers, you do not have an organisation”.  

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 

Prof. Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah suggested that leaders should apply emotional intelligence in dealing with employees. 

“Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others”- Psychology Today. This, Prof. Amponsah-Tawiah said would not only enable leaders to empathize with employees but would also enhance effective communication for better results.  

“Some people are able to do well when alone whiles some do better when in a team so it is critical that as a manager you know the people you work with,” he explained. 

PRODUCTIVITY 

Mr. Amponsah-Tawiah further said there was the need for winning organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide guidance to employees who were outside the office space on how to still be productive while working from home. 

“It is important to train employees to manage home affairs so that whatever happens at home does not affect their work,” he said. 

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT 

Mr. Reginald Mark-Hansen indicated that organizations should create the enabling environment for employees adding, “…when people are given the right environment they bring their best to the table”.  He urged leaders not to be overly controlling and commanding their employees because “in so doing they destroy a lot of values”. 

He stated that leaders should know the priorities of their employees and engage them appropriately. 

Mr. Mark-Hansen added that creating redundancies at workplaces in times of challenges as such posed by COVID-19 was not the best because employees played an important role in the progress of organisations. 

He said, instead of cutting off the workforce, leaders could put employees on a pay roll until the challenge was subdued. 

“These are things that must be on the top of the minds of business leaders if they want to win,” he said.