As more companies shut their office doors and ask their employees to work virtually, maintaining high levels of engagement and productivity won’t be easy. But with a proven approach to remote connections and team management, it can be done well and set up employees for a seamless return to regular ways of working.

1. LEADING THROUGH AND BEYOND COVID-19 WEBINAR SERIES
KEEPING
YOUR PEOPLE
ENGAGED AND
PRODUCTIVE
THROUGH THE
CRISIS
Thursday, 19 March 2020

2. 2
MARK ROYAL
Associate Client Partner,
Korn Ferry Listen
MELISSA SWIFT
Senior Client Partner,
Leader, Digital Advisory, NA
and Global Accounts
Agenda
DOUG CHARLES
President,
Americas & Global
Consumer Practice
SPEAKERS:
Introduction
Our insights
What you can do now
Where to find out more
1.
2.
3.
4.

3. Motivation is critical right now – and can erode fast
3
WHAT MAKES WORK WORK?
WHAT’S CHALLENGING RIGHT
NOW?
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM
PAST CRISES?
Engagement and enablement
Engagement = committed people
willing to go the extra mile.
Enablement = the right people in the
right roles with the right tools in the right
work environment.
Distraction and frustration
Distraction – often due to worry at a
personal level – erodes engagement.
Frustration – often due to difficulty in
meeting work goals in a disrupted
environment – compromises
enablement.
Motivation can erode quickly –
but is key to recovering at pace.
In the 2008 financial crisis, we saw that:
▪ Existing motivation gaps were
exposed quickly – and companies
that captured/acted on that learning
quickly reaped rewards.
▪ Companies that emphasized
engagement and enablement during
the crisis recovered more quickly.
© 2020 Korn Ferry. All rights reserved

4. Doing more; doing less; and
what leaders must avoid
4
EMPLOYEES NEED MORE:
• Prioritization and focus.
• Informal connection and
mentoring.
• Medium-term planning and
mobilization.
EMPLOYEES NEED LESS:
• Meeting overload.
• Scattered scheduling.
• Reporting on “the noise” at
the expense of what’s critical.
© 2020 Korn Ferry. All rights reserved
HOW CAN LEADERS BEST ENABLE THE “MORE” AND THE “LESS?”
Focus on facilitating sharing, generating peer examples, and “group-sourcing.”
LEADERS SHOULD NOT:
▪ Assume everyone has
more free time.
▪ Instinctively clamp down
on metrics and rules.
▪ Think of employees as
one homogeneous group.

5. Forging a path forward: looking beyond the crisis
5
Make sure health and
safety are top of the
agenda.
“The leader’s role is
to define reality, then
give hope.”1
5
Frequent, candid,
consistent, and
personal
communications.
Address rewards and
performance metrics.
2
6
Acknowledge and
tackle “the
watercooler gap.”
Be realistic about
the promise – and
the reality – of
technology.
3
7
Take employees’
personal challenges
seriously – and provide
true resources.
Give people a voice.
4
8
© 2020 Korn Ferry. All rights reserved

6. For further information
© 2020 Korn Ferry. All rights reserved 6
Get our latest thinking on KornFerry.com
www.kornferry.com/challenges/coronavirus
Use this QR code or click on the link in the chat box
to visit our coronavirus insights page and keep up to date with
our latest thinking on how you can lead through and beyond
COVID-19.

7. More webinars in the series
© 2020 Korn Ferry. All rights reserved 7
On-demand Leading in a time of crisis
On-demand Social distancing without revenue disruption
Today Keeping your people engaged and productive
through the crisis
Monday, March 23 Protecting your company’s economic health
Tuesday, March 24 Employing agile reward strategies for a volatile world
Wednesday, March 25 Crisis-proofing your talent processes
Thursday, March 26 Creating effective learning experiences in a virtual
environment
All sessions are being recorded and on-demand
viewing links, as well as registration links for upcoming
webinars, can be found on the kornferry.com
coronavirus insights page.

8. Thank you