Covid19 has successfully created a scare amongst everyone’s mind. Right from health issues to mental struggles to worldly financial crisis. The latter part is what every individual abhors – The recession. But it’s time to face the harsh truth of the situation – there is a visibly increasing rate in unemployment. With the startups booming just until 2019, Covid19 has pulled most of them down with the economic hit. The leaders of these firms try to find ways to keep their dream projects rolling, but at what cost?

Building a business isn’t an overnight party of one man’s efforts. It is a toiling process of hard-working strong teams that make the business and its Leader a success. And when these leaders have to find alternatives during a crisis causing the work to go to a standstill in order to pay the employees and feed their own families – the situation is mentally as well as emotionally draining.

As painful as it seems, because of the collapsing market to keep any project standing, laying off the employees seems like a straightforward yet the most painful decision to practice.

Imagine, you have built a house with the efforts of people who are like a family, who have believed in your plan and been there alongside right from its inception; suddenly laying them off is almost equal to letting the part of that dream project walk away. But when the money isn’t rolling and the leaders have a group of families to feed while struggling to keep their dream project standstill – choosing an emotional or a practical side is an agonizing task.

In a situation of retaining all the employees or keeping the business alive without the regular financial flow, the practical choice of - keeping the project strong, unfortunately turns against the employees’ faith. Nothing is worse than the situation where the leader has to face the hatred or helplessness from the people that complete his business.

No matter what, every leader has to think the best for his business as well as the employees with the major benefits while taking the required steps even though these harsh times. As hard as the process seems, finding a win-win solution should never be a far off catch. We think these alternative tips during a catastrophic situation, might always be helpful;

1 Switching roles: If it gets difficult to retain an employee in one division, try to either switch the roles or divisions of operations for the employees rather than letting them off the hook

2 Making the most of LOA: Let the employees take leave of absence for a given period of time and join back when things start turning better instead of laying them off.

3 Switch the employees: Keep switching the staff for a certain time period by paying them all the basics of their monthly income until the company gets rolling well so that not many have to suffer the blow of unemployment.  

4 Using the annual Offs: Make it a point that the employees get no paid day-offs, considering the stagnant period for the business as the paid annual day-offs. Any more leaves would result in salary deduction - a better alternative than pushing unemployment.