Michele Harmon
The topic of face-covering remains political, central to the development of theory, and gathering of information about probable consequences appropriate to making health-conscious decisions. A recent newscaster said, when a hurricane hits, no one argues about whether it is a Category 3 or a Category 5; it is a hurricane. With regards to how to keep our citizens safe from COVID 19, seemingly, we continue to debate on every issue.
Before addressing the need to wear a facial covering, here are some facts about my Texas roots. I was born and raised in Texas and have spent over 16 years in Midland, had cousins that fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, and another that was a hero on the Mier Expedition and the Black Bean Episode. The hero’s name was John Christopher Columbus Hill, a 14-year-old who traded himself to General Pedro de Ampudia for his father and brother’s lives. He was eventually taken to Mexico City and adopted by the President of Mexico, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Another cousin, George Washington Hill, was the Secretary of War and Marine for the Texas Republic. I am not only a Texan, but I bleed burnt orange, and my husband is an Aggie. There are no traitors among us, and we would never live anywhere else.
Many have seen comparisons of wearing simple face-covering versus the face gear others wear every day to do their jobs and protect our lives and freedoms. Our front-line workers at the grocery store and other retail establishments wore masks before Governor Abbott’s mandate. Soon, Texans may be sending children to school, and the children and teachers will be wearing a face-covering. By September, both the flu and Coronavirus yearly strains will compete while overwhelming hospitals and sustaining the absence of the work environment creating another shutdown. The outcome suggests that children may need to begin learning online while establishing more remote workers.
The future remains unpredictable, commending the implementation of safety against droplets of saliva, reduce risk with social distancing, and maintaining a clean environment establishing a fighting chance to advance economic activities.
From day one, I wore face-covering, and I have been whispered about and mocked, and had to say goodbye to the gym, where safety measures were considered irrelevant. At this writing, Texas is 13 days into Governor Abbott’s orders, and it seems more Texans are complying with the Executive Order.
My previous article said, as the boss you do, do people. Legally, employees, customers, volunteers, etc. need a safe work environment. By now, the property and casualty insurance providers have called to see if the business has safety protocols and follows the letter of the law. The laws aside, companies need to make money and need healthy employees to make that happen. Human Resources and Safety departments are leading the way for organizations to be safe. You terminate the driver that drives drunk, texts while driving, or steals. What makes enforcing a face-covering rule, any different?
Restaurants and essential workers have the necessary safety protocols down, and so can you. As a nation, many workers never stopped working for all of us. HEB is a role model and leading the way. Subsequently, with their strategic planning and reaction to Texas’ first shut down, they were able to give permanent raises to their employees and make a profit while providing Texans the necessities of life. If you skipped the grocery store in April, you missed an experience, not like anything other. If you went to an HEB, some shelves might have been empty, but you could always buy plenty of provisions.
What are the challenges to overcome by covering your face, washing your hands, and sustaining social distancing? When we had the severe flu (H1N1 Pandemic) outbreak in 2009, many of us learned to wash our hands long enough to sing the Happy Birthday song. These safety measures are repeatable today, collectively with new products to ensure a clean environment we as consumers associated with to purchase products or services. The airlines have realized the significance of our health or the value of our dollar, installing an air cleaning system before contaminants enter the cabin.
The world is going through a monstrous science experiment, introducing innovative opportunities for entrepreneurs with the initiative to develop new products while generating additional revenue streams.
Seize the Day. Make lemonade out of lemons.
Why am I ordering a face shield from Amazon? Large-scale outbreaks of infectious diseases commonly increase morbidity and mortality across our nation, disrupting our economic activities, social, and political exchange of resources that affect numerous industries.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (April 2020) and the leadership of the National Association of Manufacturers (March 2020) indicated that the collection of data concerning manufacturing shows output rates have declined 6.3 percent. The financial impact suggests that 78 percent of manufacturers anticipated these results, with 51 percent left without an emergency plan while experiencing supply-chain disruption reaching a moderate growth of 36 percent. Without a doubt, this cascades into a waterfall affecting many significant industries. Education may never be the same, closing and moving abruptly to create online platforms to ensure remote learning. Online classes will grow. If you do not own some good tech stocks applicable to empowering people to work and communicate from anywhere, evaluate the opportunity of stock investments.
As the leader of the organization or as a business owner, put politics aside, and wear a face-covering. Who has not been hit hard in their pocketbook? Let us stop the nonsense as Texas needs to generate economic activities for businesses to create revenue, increase wealth, and enhance production. We need to put Texas back to work and suspend the considerable volume of those proclaiming bankruptcy. As the leader, pay attention to what employees are doing both at work and outside of work. It is not fiction that if good behavior is encouraged, most employees will follow. For those that do not, get ready to see lots of social media posts flaunting risky behavior. There is no need to look for it; employees will jump at the chance to share it because they want to be safe and want their children to go to school.
During these times, HR advises organizations to mandate recruiting efforts and promote brand identification. In 1986 postgraduate advisers suggested going back to school to get a Petroleum Engineering degree. In a few short years, it would be an essential skill set, and that was a correct prediction. Do not stop recruiting and maintain an active presence on high school and college campuses and tell educators what skills employees will need to have as the organization recovers. Start intern and apprenticeship programs now. Recruit a new type of candidate and look beyond an almost all-male workforce. There are tax credits for hiring veterans.
Reinvest in your workforce to maintain a valuable infrastructure, to streamline manufacturing, and to capitalize on efficiency and effectiveness to secure profitability. If a specific kind of job is not fillable, then find a way to implement automation. Remember, now is the time to retool, remain ahead of the competition, develop cost-effective options, and increase morale and retention. Lastly, be the employer of choice that everyone wants to work for when Texas begins to recover from this Tsunami.
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“Your employees are the heart of your organization.” Dr. Michele Harmon is a Human Resource professional, supporting clients in Texas and New Mexico that range in size from five to more than 3,000 employees. Email: micheleharmon1@gmail.com.
While I agree some precautions are necessary, the idea that employers need to monitor their employees’ behavior in relation to masks/health precautions outside of the work place is disturbing. It is starting to feel like we live in a totalitarian society. Not everyone agrees with the current protocols for different reasons. The science changes everyday. I am an active, healthy, educated woman. I would rather choose for myself how to best manage my health and the health of my family than to put it into the hands of not only government authorities, but my place of employment (!?), for my personal life and health. This has gone too far.