SHRM26 Debrief · Health & Wellness · #3656
When Crisis Hits Close to Home: Red Hat's People-First Approach to Supporting Associates Through Regional Conflict
with Anne Muir
& Kenny Zuckerberg
& Tricia Mahoney
& Kenny Zuckerberg & Tricia Mahoney"We don't actually do people favors when we let performance slide."
What it was about
When a global crisis hits an organization, in this case the October 2023 Israel conflict, which directly affected over 600 Red Hat associates, the response is what sticks. Transparent, frequent communication, cross-functional daily coordination, and a strong EAP partnership build trust with employees and create lasting organizational impact well beyond the crisis itself.
By the numbers
double
Red Hat doubled employer-paid EAP sessions for the affected country long-term
Key notes
- Stand up daily cross-functional stand-ups (HR business partners on the ground, safety and security, payroll, talent, global mobility, employment, and the EAP partner) to surface and answer questions quickly during a crisis.
- Create a single, centralized, static intranet page with general information, an FAQ that is updated daily, and crisis-specific wellbeing resources so associates don't have to dig through emails.
- Communicate transparently even when you don't have all the answers yet — acknowledging open questions builds more trust than staying silent.
The contrarian takeCutting an employee slack on performance during a personal crisis, though well-intentioned, is a mistake. Continued accountability and performance conversations are what most often prompt employees to seek out EAP support, so letting performance slide removes the trigger that gets people help.
Take this back Monday
Do this for your team
Build one centralized crisis FAQ page and train managers to refer, not counsel, employees to EAP during hardship.
Say this in your next leadership meeting
During a crisis, transparent daily communication and a strong EAP partnership build more lasting employee trust than any single company-wide announcement.
Watch out for
- Letting empathy cross into a 'trap' where managers avoid holding an affected employee accountable for declining performance. This actually reduces the odds the employee seeks help, since accountability conversations are often the trigger that gets people to use EAP resources.
- Managers taking on roles they aren't equipped for (therapist, financial advisor, legal advisor) instead of directing employees to actual resources and benefits.
- Focusing energy and conversation on things completely outside your control (e.g., whether airlines will cancel flights) rather than on the things you can actually control or prepare for.
If this landed, see these
↳ Go deeperWhen Grief Comes to Work: Bold Policies, Real Support, Better Outcomes (NO PRESS PERMITTED)Extends single-crisis response into an ongoing, always-on grief-support policy instead of one-time bereavement.⇄ The counterpointLeading with Bravery in the Age of Transformation: How Courage Shapes the Future of WorkReframes the same moment as needing individual courage, not just cross-functional process and coordination.✦ The unexpected oneUnMuted Leader: Turning Insight into Influence in the Future of WorkSame lesson in a different key: transparency, even without every answer, builds more trust than staying quiet.