‘Weary, exhausted, frustrated and forgotten.’
A few takeaways from Southwest’s experience:
• First, pay attention to your workers’ morale, with a special eye attuned to signs of burnout.
• Second, while you might not be confronted with gestures as dramatic as Southwest faced — open letters and the like — be ready to listen, and to let your employees know that you are listening, even if you don’t have an immediate solution available.
• Third, focus on recruiting. This is a full-time job in most businesses, but it’s even more apt today.
• Fourth, bring your workers in on the problem and ask them to be part of the solution. Copy a page from Southwest’s book, for example, by perhaps offering incentives and referral bonuses to employees who recruit other new employees.
• Fifth, be prepared to forgo short term opporuntities, in favor of not overtaxing your workers and creating a more stable workforce in the long-term.