How I Did It: Supporting Employees During Coronavirus
The Coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the way our organizations and clinics work practically overnight—from staff needing to work from home to overhauling protocols and trying to keep clinics open, everything has transformed. Some organizations have prioritized caring for their staff as part of the transition. But how? We reached out to three executive directors who replied to our tweets asking how they changed their workplace to ensure their employees had the support system and resources they needed to meet this moment. Here’s what they had to say.
We interviewed Yamani Yansà Hernandez (left), Kwajelyn Jackson (middle), and Fatimah Giffords (right).
Photo credits: Yamani: Carly Romeo, Kwajelyn: herself, Fatimah: Robin Spiotto Photography.
Name: Yamani Yansà Hernandez, Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds
Pronouns: she/they
Digital: @yamaniyansa
One of your favorite nonprofits that everyone should give to: The local abortion fund of your choice.
Anything else? Mom of two!
Name: Kwajelyn Jackson, Executive Director of the Feminist Women’s Health Center
Pronouns: she/her
Website: Feminist Women’s Health Center
Digital: @FWHC, @FWHC.Atlanta, @FeministCenter
One of your favorite nonprofits that everyone should give to: All-Options, Abortion Care Network, Black Mamas Matter Alliance
Name: Fatimah Gifford, Executive Director of Provide
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Digital: providecare.org, @provide_access, @provideaccess, @provide_access
One of your favorite nonprofits that everyone should give to: Provide! Also, any abortion fund within your state. I love to give all my money to Lilith Fund in Texas.
ReproJobs: Tell us about you and your organization.
Fatimah Gifford: I am new at Provide; I’ve been Executive Director for the past seven months, succeeding the previous ED who led the organization for nearly 15 years. I have nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, communications, and organizational management with the last seven years of it being in reproductive health, rights, and justice.
Provide is a national nonprofit, predominantly positioned in the South and Midwest, that trains healthcare providers, counselors, and social workers on how to give medically accurate, informed, and compassionate referrals for abortion care. We enter spaces that aren’t necessarily “safe” and free from stigma. However, when we leave that space, what we have found is that providers are more likely to refer and talk to their clients about abortion than they were before. And for us, that’s a start. We continue to build relationships with those folks to continue to destigmatize abortion so that we are that bridge that connects both client-centered care and the continuum of care within our public health systems- specifically within domestic violence, substance use, family planning and HIV networks throughout the South and Midwest.
Yamani Hernandez: I have been the Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds for five years. The main work of NNAF is to support and build power with members to remove financial, logistical, cultural and political barriers to abortion access.
Kwajelyn Jackson: Feminist Women’s Health Center (FWHC) is a Black woman-led, independent, non-profit, multi-generational, multi-racial reproductive health, rights, and justice organization, committed to a vision of accessible and judgment-free reproductive health care and abortion access in the South for all who need it. I have been working at FWHC since summer 2013, and have been the Executive Director since fall 2018.
We asked folks what changes their workplaces are making in light of coronavirus, and you each responded. Can you share more about what changes you’re implementing—were some already in progress while others were brand new? How did you decide on those particular changes?
FG: As an organization, one value that we lean into in our trainings and organizational culture is worthiness. At Provide, we encourage and lead our work with sites by meeting folks where they are. So, that is exactly what we have to do internally in order to adapt to all the changes that coronavirus brings to our everyday lives.
Before there were any widespread external changes that impacted our program work, I immediately shifted to identify and develop areas in which Provide could ensure that we were taking care of our folks. And what that meant was, considering what shifts we needed to make on a daily, weekly and monthly basis - albeit temporary- to make sure that each and every person was supported and we were creating a space for staff to not worry about the work.
My first priority was to communicate as much as possible with everyone on staff, generally about how this crisis impacted us as people. I specifically told staff, “This is a time for us to take care of ourselves. Right now, we need to focus on going inward and adapting to our communities being in crisis. The work will be there later. But what we need to focus on right now, is ourselves, so that we can continue to transform healthcare in pivotal ways later.”
So, the immediate changes I made:
All travel was halted until May 4th (we made this decision before any stay at home orders went into effect).
Create a “safe space”, once per week, during our all-staff meeting where we all come together check-in on one another to show support and share experiences
Flexible work schedules to accommodate changes in personal situations
No furloughs or lay-offs
Increased PTO (automatic 10 extra sick days) for all COVID-19 related health issues, whether it is for a staff member, family or support person within their household
$500 bonus that allowed staff to pay for increased costs to ease financial burdens due to a change in lifestyles, in ways that may be more expensive, such as increased household bills, stocking up on groceries, and even being able to cover additional costs associated with helping other family members during this pandemic
Twice per week, our Senior Leadership Team convenes to discuss any changes at the local, state, or national level. It allows us to stay on top of the ever-changing external landscape as well as open up lines of communication from the entire staff to upper management
KJ: After March 13th, all non-essential personnel began working remotely, including me. We rescheduled or postponed all elective wellness services, or shifted them to phone appointments as much as possible so that we could prioritize abortion services. We began staggering appointments, rearranging chairs, and screening patients for active symptoms to reduce the transmission within the clinic.
We also implemented several new HR policies to address COVID-19 related time off and compensation during this time. We decided that no COVID-related absences due to illness or caregiving responsibilities would be counted against existing PTO as long as they are communicated to a supervisor. We also adjusted the time for hourly employees whose normal shifts were reduced because of our precautions, so that people would continue to be paid for their typical schedule. For our remote workers, we understand that a typical 9 to 5 workday might not be possible, so we are allowing flex time. We tried to make sure that all of our remote workers had the proper equipment, so we ordered new laptops, and are currently drafting a reimbursement policy for the use of personal equipment like cell phones.
We are doing everything we can to remind people that their first priority is to take care of themselves and the people they love. We will work when and how we can, but I don’t expect business as usual. There is nothing usual about what we are experiencing.
YH: First, we let employees know that we have just three essential work priorities at this time and to rework work plans to defer anything else in order to focus only on these things:
Self and community care
Emergency technical assistance to our members.
Emergency mobilization of funds to our members.
We immediately offered caregivers paid leave and two weeks additional sick time for anyone navigating COVID-19 based on what we knew at the time about contagiousness and recovery.
We already offer 16 weeks of paid leave but we didn’t want this leave to interfere with that one should people need it for other reasons later in the year so we made a new policy with a new category called “COVID leave” and we updated our timesheets for people to code as “caretaking” or for our reduced workweek hours as people are doing a combination of both.
We reduced the workweek to 28 hours and canceled travel for the last quarter of the fiscal year. After a fair amount of people lost their childcare all at once and as we were processing leaves we realized that the entire office needed to recalibrate hours. Having ⅔ of people working 40 hours and having ⅓ people on leave or reduced 20-hour schedules meant we needed to level the field for everyone to lower expectations and provide more space for grief, caregiving, mutual aid in communities, and generally navigating life with long delays in getting food and medical treatment and the mental/emotional drain of navigating uncertainty. We had been trying to move to a 32-hour workweek for over a year and trying to figure out how to make this work with “essential functions” like the finance department who feel they really need the 40 hours. This is forcing us to try before we thought we were ready and figure it out. We are closed on Fridays and working 7 hour days Monday through Thursday. We were already a mostly remote office and had policies and resources to support that. Our new Operations Director took this time to reiterate this policy so people have what they need to work at home (we provide computer, printer and office supplies and $800 initial home office set up a budget for desk, chair and anything else needed and $150 maintenance per year for home office maintenance and $125 per month for wifi/cell phone contribution. We also split renters insurance with employees to protect the equipment in people’s homes). We also decided to offer an additional food/supply stipend of $100 per month from April-June as we know people have more people at home than usual and have been required to do more shopping to quarantine. We set up an optional meditation space each week and pointed all employees to our benefits package that offers tele-mental health services and our Employee Assistance Program.
“I am not willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of my staff for the benefit of our community. My staff are my community, and they deserve to be protected at all costs.”
How did you go about implementing those changes? Did you encounter any barriers? If so, what were they?
KJ: I worked on our COVID-19 response policy every single day for the first week. I used models from other organizations, I pulled from every resource I could, I updated it with every executive order. Our entire leadership team helped to contribute to the decision making, so I was certainly not alone, but it was very hard to keep up as things were changing. And we are still so uncertain about what comes next. The biggest obstacle for me was balancing staying open and serving patients with the idea that I might be putting my staff at risk of harm. I know I cannot guarantee that no one will get sick, whether we close or not, but I am not willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of my staff for the benefit of our community. My staff are my community, and they deserve to be protected at all costs.
FG: Honestly, implementing the changes didn’t feel like a heavy lift at all. It was what needed to happen, so I spent the majority of my time focusing on working with Provide’s leadership so that they were in alignment and also could transparently communicate these changes organizationally. Staff have responded graciously and also are appreciative that they are able to focus on making sure that they are staying healthy and safe during this time.
YH: We consulted with the directors and managers on our staff about how their teams were doing and what could be removed from their staff’s plates. We also hold cross level break out groups called “communities of practice” for people to talk about how they are feeling. So far people have expressed a lot of relief and gratitude for the support. However, for many people work is also a distraction from traumatic events and some have said they appreciate having a values-aligned work environment as a refuge and to feel like they are taking action against something that is wreaking so much havoc. Others also are struggling to make the shift to less hours and having to say no to things given the nature of their work (for instance accounting functions that don’t stop). We have been working at a pace that has been unsustainable for many for a long time, AND part of why is that we have been powered by the urgency of the political climate and our love for our members to go so hard. We are realizing that when we couldn’t figure out how to slow ourselves down, COVID-19 forced us to. We are listening and learning.
How are you supporting employees who have a lot of responsibilities during this time given that the state of abortion access is shifting by the minute?
YH: We went through each employee’s work plan and decided what was essential based on our three priorities and what was non-essential and could be deferred or stopped. We are finding that some jobs are much harder to do on fewer hours and we may have to supplement staff for people who have to take leaves or cannot get certain business functions done while on leave for caregiving. Our members are also self-organized and organizing in response to the moment so it helps us know when we are most needed and when we are not and reminds us that we are in a leaderful network with lots of lateral connection and while we always try to leverage national power and resources toward local members, we don’t have to have all the answers. We are holding community care calls regularly and trying to reallocate our budget savings from not traveling and meeting to our network and working to fundraise to make up the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the primary source of abortion funding budgets (Fund-a-Thon/formerly Bowl-a-Thon).
FG: We developed a temporary plan for all work so that staff didn’t have to worry about goals, trainings, outreach, etc. As a remote, training workforce, we rely on connecting with and building external partnerships so that we can train as many people as possible in order to continue to build widespread institutional and cultural practice change within our public health systems. We know our work is critical, and we also know it is as important that Provide’s staff are able to survive during this moment.
KJ: We are trying to be flexible in all the ways we can without interrupting services. So some of our staff have shifted their workdays because they are immunocompromised or have caregiving responsibilities. We are relying upon nursing staff who have been cut from their other practices to fill in gaps when we’re short. Many of the physicians are alternating shifts every two weeks so that they can self-isolate and prevent asymptomatic spread. And we are trying to provide supportive resources beyond money where we can. We have bought lunch for all of the clinic staff a few times, and other groups have sponsored lunches as well. We hold organization-wide Community Care Zoom calls periodically so that people have an opportunity to express how they are coping and reconnect with one another.
We’ve heard that a lot of folks are worried about hiring freezes, furloughs, and layoffs because of COVID-19. What do you believe funders can do to guard against this?
KJ: We need funders to help close the gaps. Many of us have applied for or will apply for the available SBA loans, but that will only cover us for two months of payroll in many cases. So many organizations that do not have earned income available and depend on foundation support and/or individual support are forced to examine how long they can pay their staff. We are fortunate that we can still operate even at a limited capacity and bring in revenue, but I am worried about when I will need to dip into the reserves to keep us afloat.
YH: Funders should not only rely on the government to provide payroll protection as that system is highly flawed and hard to navigate. We are applying and helping members who want to. But funders can also guarantee payroll protection for grantees, and automate renewals, lower expectations and waive application/reporting requirements right now and increase their payout rates. The work right now is care and survival. They can also provide additional funding for six months of operating reserves for their grantees and support for offices that were not already remote. Many people don’t have laptops or home office setups. For as many months as this is happening there are infrastructural needs that need to be funded. We are in a worrisome conundrum in which we need to slow down and in some cases stop to tend to family and survival while our opponents are taking advantage of the collective vulnerability of the nation. How do we fight and rest at the same time? It may take more people and more coordination but we can’t do what we did when we could move freely and had childcare.
FG: The main thing that funders can do right now—and what I have experienced personally with ours—is to be extremely flexible with reporting guidelines, proposals, and renewals. This alone is a huge operational lift for leadership.
However, I would love to encourage funders to create financial commitments that will help us pay for creating spaces for self-care within organizations, additional funding for small bonuses that we can give staff to help defray costs (because we all know that stimulus money won’t suffice), and opportunities for organizational effectiveness monies that will help us with the overall strategy development for shifting priorities and change in capacity during this unprecedented time.
Is your organization still hiring? If so, how have you changed your processes?
KJ: We aren’t hiring. In fact, I was interviewing for an executive assistant position when this began—talking to candidates for the last several weeks of March via Zoom—and was heartbroken to be unable to act on my best candidate. But my priority has to be sustaining our existing staff for as long as possible, and it didn’t feel prudent to bring on another full-time salary in such an uncertain time. We will bring on temporary clinic staff as needed if we fall below the capacity necessary to provide quality care, but no other departments can hire at this time.
YH: We haven’t yet set our budget for the next fiscal year yet. We would likely have done some hiring and we are getting proposals now from members on what is needed from NNAF to support locally/regionally. We aren’t sure yet what next fiscal year will hold for hiring. We do know that with some people on leave or working reduced schedules, there are some functions we will need to supplement with temporary support to stay on top of critical business functions. A year ago we hired an HR Director because we have too many staff not to have a formal HR strategy and support system. I think the processes we already have in place are fairly solid and have supported staff immensely.
What would you suggest that other repro organizations do to support their staff right now? What advice would you offer to other leaders who are thinking about implementing similar changes?
KJ: Listen deeply. Encourage them to be honest about their limitations and then take those limitations seriously. Do not expect business as usual. Be as transparent as possible and let folks know when you don’t have the answers. Call upon your colleagues across the movement for help and advice. Be patient with yourself. Trust your team. Pay your people what they are worth. Value them beyond their productivity, but rather for their humanity. Choose the risks that center your values, not the ones that make you compromise them.
FG: First, I would say, “I see you” because I know that it’s lonely at the top, and you’ve got this! Make sure that you take the time and space to take care of yourselves.
And secondly, I would encourage repro leaders to do things that will take care of your people and acknowledging that we all are bringing different lived realities to work each and every day. So that may mean creating a forum in which staff are able to communicate on what they are going through, or it could be others sharing motivational and humorous stories to keep everyone centered. It may look like you allowing staff to work non-traditional hours than what was previously expected of them, and that’s OK.
It’s important that we lead and manage organizations that create cultures grounded in values that are people-centered. When making decisions that have a financial impact organizationally, it is already a scary place to be in, but remember that you are always able to navigate that after the fact.
YH: My suggestions come with the caveat and recognition that many reproductive justice organizations are made up of small staffs. Many abortion funds have no staff and the ones who do also have just one or two people. So in our efforts to push people along in the most ideal values, we have to keep in mind that being able to practice ideal values is also very much connected to the organizational budget. It's both/and, values/resources to practice them. Thus, the suggestions need to depend on the size and resources of the organization and there isn’t a one size fits all until each organization is funded at levels that can make all employee benefits comparable and all leaders have the same levels of training. Many of us are talking to each other about what we are doing but we aren’t all working with the same set of values or resources to implement. My recommendations are for people to take care of themselves and their families, do strategic contingency work and financial planning for the viability of the organization (some organizations may not survive this and larger ones need to support smaller ones) while taking as much care as possible the employees, communicate with stakeholders about impacts of COVID-19 what is happening to the organization because uncertainty is anxiety-producing. There are a couple of good webinars I would recommend for smaller to mid organizations that don’t know where to start. Remember that “hope is a discipline” - Mariame Kaba.