Talking to employees about current events

June 5, 2020 6:04 AM

I manage a team of seven people, mostly Americans, in a international health organization based in the US. I am white female. I would like to show my support for my employees (of all races, but especially black). I don't want to ignore what's going on in the world, both with the recent brutality and resulting protests, but also acknowledging that racism didn't begin this week. But I also don't want to make people uncomfortable.

I have already initiated some of these conversations, mostly focused on letting them know that they can take time off with no questions asked and to tell them about organizational resources. I want to make space for them to talk and share any feelings, but I'm also conscious that I'm their boss. I don't want them to feel like I'm forcing them into emotional or unprofessional conversations. I myself like to keep my feelings out of work, so I want to respect their boundaries.

I would love to hear from people who have had these conversations about a) what went well, b) what didn't, and c) what they would like to hear from their boss in this situation.

posted by oryelle to Work & Money (3 answers total)

I think sending your team an email basically outlining what you've said here would be good. As a POC I would prefer to receive this information asynchronously rather than face-to-face, which could be awkward or difficult for everyone. It's just a really fraught time and nerves are on edge.

Also please remind staff about the EAP and any other benefits that might be available to them.

You might also make it clear that you understand that people might be less productive, etc. during this time (of course, this was already a whole thing before the protests, because of the pandemic) -- and request that staff keep you looped in if they need more time to complete tasks or whatever, to the extent that you are in fact able to handle things not being done as quickly as usual.

Are there higher-ups in your organization, particularly black people or other people of color, whom you could run your plans by?
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:37 AM on June 5, 2020 [8 favorites]

Alison Green / Ask a Manager has some very good advice.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 9:53 AM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am a white woman who manages a team, and I would be hesitant to open things up for general discussion in a group setting. You are potentially putting a lot of emotional work on the black team members to represent their race, explain, teach, justify, etc. and that is definitely not what we should be doing.

For one on ones, I would just acknowledge this is a difficult time and make sure that they know what resources are available to them. You can leave some empty space in case they want to talk - generally if an employee wants to talk to you about how they feel, they will. If they don’t, don’t press or make a show of how woke or safe you are. Just move on.

I have had a similar impulse around bringing this into the workplace, and for me some of this is about helping myself feel better or like I’m doing something. I’m not saying that’s true about you, but it is worthwhile to think about.
posted by jeoc at 12:10 PM on June 5, 2020 [6 favorites]