running a business during a pandemic

Politics And Leadership

A buddy shared
that the government
isn’t worried about bird flu
or COVID or Candida auris
or any of the other health issues
floating around.

Why should we be worried?

Government leaders
and heads of government agencies
are concerned most
about being re-elected
and/or keeping their jobs.

That is their number one goal.

Protecting the average person
including the average small business owner
is secondary…at best.

And voters don’t want
to hear about pandemics
or wearing masks
or taking other precautions.

So leaders,
intent on being re-elected,
aren’t going to talk about it.

We have to make our own decisions
for ourselves
and for our businesses.

The government
will advise doing the bare minimum.

Do that bare minimum.
But also consider
doing more.

Because the government
won’t bail out
our small business a$$es
if employees or customers
sue us into the ground.

Protect yourself.

Ill Employees Finding New Jobs

When I told my business building buddy
his employees
were likely truly ill
and not faking it,
he pointed out
how one of his employees
found another job
while she was supposedly ill.

I asked him
if that new job
was remote.
Was she working from home?

Yep,
it WAS a remote job.

Because, of course, it was.
The employee likely
HAD to get a new job.
She likely couldn’t return
to her old job
and the office
and the daily commute.

Happy healthy employees
don’t find new jobs
while they’re off work
and ill.

If your employees
are finding new jobs
while they’re off work,
they likely can’t do
their old jobs.

Either communicate
that you’re open
to changing existing jobs
to accommodate changes in circumstances
or wish ill employees the best
when they land new jobs elsewhere.

If People Say They’re Sick, They’re VERY Sick

A business building buddy
grumbled
that he thought
one of his employees
was faking illness,
trying to get out of working.

Confessing to being ill
at this point of the pandemic
is, for some,
a confession of weakness.

It also brings
social isolation
and social condemnation.

The sick person
is viewed as an unsafe person,
a risky person
to be near.

People are more likely
to fake being well
than fake being ill.

So when they tell you
they’re ill,
they’re likely VERY ill
as in
vomiting
and having the sh*ts
without any warning
level of illness.
(This is happening
with one of the dominant
COVID variants.)

No one wants
a person ill like that
at the office.

If someone says
they’re ill,
believe them.

Don’t Insist People Work Sick

Okay.
I get it.
Due to COVID,
people’s immune systems are sh*t
and
that means they’re sick
much more often.

You are trying
to run a business.
You need employees.

So you’re considering
insisting
employees come into work
while they’re sick.

Don’t insist on that.
That’s cruel
and it is a lawsuit
waiting to happen.

If that employee dies
or suffers extreme harm
while working ill,
their families will
sue your a$$.

No one has the time
or the money
for that.

A better solution
is having extra staff
on call.

Train and ‘hire’ more people
than you need.

The constant illness
is our new normal.
Plan for it.