How to address challenging current events

As a manager, you’ll likely have conversations about challenging current events with your employees. We’ll share five principles to help you navigate these discussions.

How current events affect your employees

Current events can have a profound impact on your employees’ lives and can fall across many categories, such as:

• Environmental (climate change, natural disasters, etc.) 
• Political (foreign affairs, Supreme Court decisions, etc.) 
• Social (racial inequality, social movements, etc.)
• Economic (recession, job security, etc.) 
• General news (transportation accidents, high-profile crimes, protests, etc)

Any one of these issues can affect your team members mentally, emotionally, and physically. So, as a manager, it’s essential to be able to address these issues.

Why is this important?

What happens when employees feel like they can’t discuss the impact of current events in the workplace? It can lead to: 

• A lack of psychological safety
• Increased stress and anxiety
• Reduced productivity
• Resentment

We’ll outline recommendations to help you address challenging current events.

5 principles to guide your conversations around current events

1. Acknowledge your employees’ emotions.

Current events can surface complex feelings in employees—from anger to anxiety to fear. As a manager, one of the most helpful things you can do is acknowledge that these responses are normal.

Try this: If you’re not sure how to start this conversation with your employees, here are a few phrases that may be useful:

• “I recognize that you may be distracted at work because of recent events.”
• “I’m finding it difficult to wrap my head around what happened—some of you may too.” 
• “If you need someone to listen as you process your emotions, I’m here to help.” 

2. Offer support, where it’s accepted. 

Some employees may feel nervous about bringing up a current event with their manager—especially if it’s an emotionally charged issue.

If you feel comfortable doing so, take the initiative to invite the employee to discuss what happened. But also let them know it’s ok to not want to talk about it.

Try this: If you feel awkward initiating the conversation or are worried about making your employees feel uncomfortable, send an email letting your team know that your door is open. With this approach, the people who want to talk will take you up on your offer.

3. Don’t try to be a problem solver.

As a manager, it’s natural to want to help an employee find a solution to their problems. But, unlike workplace issues, current events aren’t something that can be “fixed.”

So instead of going into the conversation as a problem solver, go in with the intention to understand, support, and empathize.

Try this: Your employee can help you clarify what your role should be—all you need to do is ask. Do they simply want to be heard? Or are they looking for guidance? 

4. Practice active listening.

Engage your active listening skills, where the goal is to understand, process, and respond thoughtfully to what your employee is saying—rather than interjecting with your own opinions.

Try this: Use playbacks, a technique where you paraphrase what someone says back to them. This shows the employee that they’re being heard and can help you confirm that you understood them correctly.

5. Recognize your own limits.

As much as you want to support your employees, it’s important to recognize your own limits. 

If you find yourself feeling drained by conversations around current events or feel that a topic is out of your depth, don’t be afraid to refer your employees to other resources or professionals.

Try this: Have a list of resources at the ready, whether that’s an overview of your company’s ERGs or the contact information of a colleague who may be an expert in the specific current event that’s being discussed.