Well, it’s lockdown! Over the last week or so we’ve had a steady roll of admonishments, restrictions and bans, all designed to force us into the (ideally) safe confines of our own homes. Parents and singletons are both contemplating the slow collapse of their sanity, although for entirely opposite reasons.
In a time like this, any distraction is worth its metaphorical weight in gold. My apartment is at ‘the in-laws are coming for dinner’ level of tidy and I’ve sorted through 4 years of boxed paperwork I’d been studiously ignoring.
With this in mind, now is the perfect time to consider communicating with your people. Obviously remaining sensitive to concerns, and keeping awareness that people’s worries and fears might be heightened here are a few suggestions of communications you may want to make:
Call to action
Have you been trying to get email addresses for your pension scheme members, or pushing your employees to sign into their benefits hub? Now is the time to encourage them to do this. Having email addresses to contact people quickly, easily and directly with regular updates is going to be so important over the next weeks and months. Postcards, leaflets or emails – they’re far more likely to be opened and read now than they were before.
Business-as-usual
We can’t ignore the current reality and if you do it will feel strange but keeping up the quarterly updates or annual newsletters will retain some sense of normality for people. It can be soothing for people to know that the wheels are still rolling and that behind the scenes some things are carrying on.
The elephant in the room
By now we know what every retailer we’ve ever shopped with is doing about Covid-19, but have you updated your members on how this is going to affect their long-term savings? It’s also worth acknowledging your employee’s concerns – who can they reach out to for information or reassurance? Are there things employers or Trustees can share that will make the lives of stakeholder’s easier? This could be anything from action lists, to tips on working from home and adjusting to life under lockdown – helping with financial, physical or mental wellbeing.
Aside from “Wash your hands!”, one of the best pieces of advice I’ve been hearing over the past couple of weeks has been around communicating with loved ones. Communicate regularly, genuinely, and honestly. These suggestions can work just as well for organisations as they do for individuals. Without being cynical, now is the time to ensure that your stakeholders understand their importance to you; to build and strengthen your relationship with them.
For all that we’re being asked to do nothing for the sake of all our lives, it’s those that do the most that will not be forgotten. Take care of your own now, keep in touch, and when it’s all over with, be sure to give thanks.
