Senior HR leaders from major global companies joined a membership-wide webinar to discuss the challenges they are facing in Ukraine and Russia, including business contingency plans and ensuring the safety of employees and their families.
Helping employees, their families, and communities in Ukraine: The panelists offered suggestions such as:
- Offering advanced payment and special bonuses to employees in Ukraine and focusing on employee safety. For those who want to relocate, companies are providing ground support to help them move out of the country.
- Establishing rescue and welcome centers in neighboring countries to help employees who relocate from Ukraine.
- Ensuring resources are available across the border by collaborating with humanitarian organizations, such as World Central Kitchen. Additionally, some member companies have created employee donation matching programs to provide extra financial help to employees in Ukraine.
- Supporting employees who have families or connections in Ukraine, including through financial support and time off.
- Leveraging existing mental health support resources to support employees in Ukraine. Some members are offering mental health support to all employees in the region.
- Extending all support to contractors and contingent workers.
European Policy Centre Chief Executive Fabian Zuleeg and Christophe Huet, Partner at CMS Legal Russia, joined the webinar to lend their expertise.
Concerns about managing workforces and operating in Russia due to sanctions and social expectations: The ability to continue to pay employees in Russia is becoming significantly impacted by financial sanctions levied on Russia. Mr. Zuleeg shared that all financial transfers to Russia could be fully stopped at some point, and companies should prepare for alternative payment plans in case this happens. A member company shared that they mapped all banking methods for employees and are working with those affected to find alternate ways to pay employees. Additionally, companies are preparing for potential hyperinflation in the country.
Potential supply chain challenges: Mr. Zuleeg shared that the conflict will generate supply chain issues in Russia and Ukraine, which are likely to lead to shortages in several areas.
Outlook: The war in Ukraine has once again tested global HR leaders’ ability to deal with unexpected events for which there is no playbook. Sergio Caredda, former chief people officer at Italian retailer OVS, noted that “Even people who don't have anything to do with Ukraine might find this difficult to cope with [and] none of us in HR have been trained on how to cope with a war.” Mr. Caredda created the community-sourced information site HR For Ukraine and will speak with the HR Policy Global Ukraine Response Working Group on our weekly call. If you are interested in learning more about HR Policy Global, you can reach out to Wen Dong at wdong@hrpolicy.org.