As the COVID vaccine is being distributed, it is interesting to see the many reactions. Between the news and my friends, the reactions have a wide spread. One of the main determinations is whether the person has underlying health issues. Some people feel they needed to be vaccinated yesterday. I had one friend who went to two different cities to get the vaccine. People at the other end of the spectrum have little trust for the vaccine and are in a wait and see attitude. They are in no rush whatsoever to be vaccinated. They will have to be clearly convinced of the vaccine safety.
The responses will drive public and corporate policies
Time will tell if the rollout is done well or will heighten the lack of trust. Bad reactions to the vaccine have already been reported. This will be a study in how to respond to issues after a rollout has begun. Your company is constantly rolling out new employee programs, business opportunities and process changes. The organizations ability to positively roll out and make changes in the roll out will directly affect employee turnover. The employee turnover can come from all ends of the spectrum. Even the employees who are very positive upfront, if they have a negative experience, might turn on you.
Once I spearheaded a major change in our compensation program. There were a relatively small number of employees who were very negative about the change. But they were also quite powerful in the organization. The vast majority of the employees were neutral. They just wanted the results which were being promised. They were being told they would be rewarded if they did certain things. When the rewards came in as promised, they all jumped in quickly.
Employees are looking past the promises to the results
The same can be said for the citizens of this country. We are looking for the desired results. We want a safe, effective vaccine. We do not want to be sold something. We don’t want pie in the sky promises. It is these types of promises, missteps and undesired results which drive employees away. You should be in touch with what is important to your employees. It is these areas which you should take special care. In the case of our employees above, it was previously broken promises. They had their fill of those. It was absolutely paramount we delivered on our promises.
Making and keeping appropriate promises during the program rollout will determine future turnover.
