Calming Employees Through A Trade War

What are you doing to keep employees at ease through this trade war?

Is your prairie based company getting hit hard by tariffs? If so, your staff may get worried about their job and if they will be able to pay their bills. You need to understand what is happening in the mind of an employee.

Most of us CEOs are relatively well off. But our employees are often working paycheck to paycheck. So, their worries about potential job losses are real and reasonable.

Communicate regularly and consistently, weekly or biweekly. Your communications may be 50 to 60% of the same messaging. That’s ok – repetition is the key to retention. And as employees repeatedly hear things in the media that cause them concern, we need to repeat reassurance.

Communicate to staff clearly, promptly and in a balanced manner, including:

1. What the current facts and key issues are.
2. That the objective is to get the business to the other side of the trade war in a strong position, and that life will go on.
3. What you and your leaders are doing to protect the company and employees jobs – what steps you’re taking to preserve cash – and the detailed reasons behind those actions.
4. Reassuranceé that you are doing everything you can to protect the company and their jobs, to make sure they are able to function in their role and help you get through this.
5. Where employees can get help if needed. Encourage all leaders and managers to connect regularly with their people. And point employees to resources you may have, such as counselling or other supports through the Employee Assistance Program in your benefits plan.
6. Encouragement to watch and manage their household costs and finances closely as they experience price increases due to tariffs. This will help demonstrate your caring and encourage them to take ownership for their finances rather than automatically pushing for wage increases, which may not be possible, depending on the financial health of the company through the trade war.

Employees are exposed to large amounts of news and social media content that can be concerning. Calm, consistent, clear messaging is best.

Keep in mind the old saying, “employees need to hear a message seven times for it to stick”. We may be able to taper off the frequency from weekly to bi-weekly, and then monthly as there is less new information, and as employees’ comfort-levels increase.

Our employees need to know that we are aware of the situation and that we are taking action to safe-guard the company. This is about maintaining our culture and employee engagement, which will be critical to how successful our company is in navigating the situation.

For other ways to navigate these challenging times with confidence, get the free complete Trade-War Success Guide for Small to Mid-Size Companies below.

Access Your Trade War Success Guide

If you are a prairie CEO who wants to grow a thriving company through these turbulent times, more quickly, more easily and with less stress and headache, please contact me here.

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