As part of our ongoing research into the employee work experience in the US, we fielded a survey last week to better understand what organizations are doing to support employees as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. We posed two questions: 

1. Given the unfolding conflict in Ukraine, what did your organization do to support impacted employees/contractors?
2. What did your organization do to support employees who are not in the impacted areas?

Over a third (39 percent) of the more than 1,300 respondents were: “unaware of any actions my organization has taken.” That may, in part, reflect the fact that 36 percent indicated that their organizations did “not have any employees/contractors in the impacted area.” 

The most common actions cited by respondents whose organizations took steps to support impacted employees and contractors were: relocated workers and/or families to safer areas and assisted with costs; closed offices, operations, plants, or stores to keep employees safe; set up employee hotlines/emergency communication systems; and maintained contact through HR where cell phone coverage was still possible. Additionally, many organizations paid salaries and bonuses in advance so that employee could have funds to flee Ukraine. Others mobilized employees in surrounding areas to get colleagues to safety and provide accommodation prior to the start of the invasion. 

Among those who indicated that their organization took actions to support all employees, these were the most common actions: the president/CEO sent a message to all staff expressing concern and support; the organization made a corporate donation to charitable organization; matched employee donations to reputable charitable organizations; launched a fundraising campaign; and posted a list of helpful resources and links on the corporate intranet. Others held town halls for employees to discuss their concerns as well as their desire to help. 

What more can CEOs and C-suite leaders do?

• If your organization has taken some of these actions, it will be important to continually let employees know the impact that their efforts or contributions have had. For example, if fundraising or getting employees to safety was part of your response, then keep employees informed about the progress. Build a plan for the next phase of support for your displaced and impacted employees and contractors, and ensure that financial stability is possible.
• If your organization has not taken any of these actions, consider doing so, even if you have no employees in the impacted areas. There are two very strong reasons for doing so:
  1. Your employees, customers, clients, investors, and the communities you serve expect you to respond. In a world where trust in institutions, government, and the media has precipitously eroded over the years, findings from the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer reveal that the societal role of business is now firmly established, and that people “want more business leadership, not less.” Our research shows that 99 percent of employees surveyed do want their leaders to speak out at least some of the time.
  2. Employees need you to respond. Our ongoing research shows a sharp decline in self-reported levels of mental health in the past two years. Certainly, the global pandemic, an economic crisis, and social unrest have taken a tremendous toll on employees. While those issues and challenges continue, employees cannot escape images of dystopian Ukrainian cities reduced to rubble, with hospitals and other civilian targets bombed, and impassioned pleas from President Zelensky to world leaders. As the situation becomes more dire and concerns over the possible use of nuclear weapons rise, fear and tensions will increase. Employees may feel powerless to help, which increases the stress; help them be part of something that can have an impact.
• CEOs and CHROs (chief human resource officers) should begin planning how their organizations can mitigate the impact of this humanitarian crisis with longer-term solutions to help hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians begin the journey to a new life. As of this writing, the United Nations estimates that at least 6.5 million Ukrainians have been displaced within Ukraine; another 3.2 million have fled the country. Europe has not seen a humanitarian crisis of this magnitude since the end of WWII. There will be geopolitical, economic, and societal ramifications from this conflict, and a resulting diaspora for generations. You might find the April 12 Human Capital Watch™ webcast, The Next Horizon of the Ukraine War: Leveraging the Power of Organizations, of interest. I will join Dave Ulrich, the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; partner at the RBL Group; Advisory Board member, Human Capital Center to discuss this topic. We know that organizations and their leaders can be a powerful force for good; Dave and I will offer thoughts on how.