With news organizations working 24/7 to keep the public informed about COVID-19, it seemed like a reasonable gesture for POLITICO, known for its hard-driving journalistic pace, to offer its journalists a day off.
“During this time, and especially as we all navigate remote life, it’s important that we all find time to rest and rejuvenate,” editor-in-chief Matt Kaminski, editor Carrie Budoff Brown and managing editor Joe Schatz wrote in a Tuesday memo to staff. At CEO Patrick Steel’s suggestion, “we’re encouraging as many teams as possible to treat this Friday, April 10, as a day off.” April 10 is also Good Friday, which pre-pandemic might have been taken as a holiday before Easter for many.
NBC senior media reporter Dylan Byers found the day off an “odd approach,” and many on Twitter responded to his view with defenses of POLITICO.
Watching this play out made us think about the wellbeing of newsroom staffs in general these days. So we reached out to POLITICO’s Chief Talent Officer, Traci Schweikert, to ask about the day-off decision and to seek broader answers about how newsrooms might be addressing work-life balance in a high-pressure WFH environment.
How did you reach the decision to offer Friday as a day off, and how does that decision fit with Politico’s approach to the staff wellbeing right now?
Schweikert: Our leadership team looked around the organization and saw how relentlessly all of our POLITICOs were engaging. Within our own teams, we had adjusted schedules, reassigned work to balance loads and encouraged employees to continue to take time off as they needed. We just finished Q1 by hitting our revenue goals and wanted to offer recognition to all our employees. Since Friday is Good Friday, and a day when markets are closed, etc, we thought this would be a good opportunity for POLITICO to collectively take a bit of time.
Are many taking Friday off or are many opting for another day this week or next?
Schweikert: The majority of our employees are taking the day off. We will continue to report the news and support that through our other departments (for example, we have a virtual event on Friday, which involves people from multiple departments). Newsletters are going out. We have a breaking news desk. So, there are folks who will be working to cover the news cycle, but their managers are working with them to give them an alternate day off very soon.
What kind of questions are you getting from individual reporters or team leaders these days and how different is that from issues that were front and center for you before the pandemic?
Schweikert: While we have always focused on questions related to work-life balance and wellness for the newsroom and our entire organization, the questions seem to be more concentrated now, as you might imagine. Our leadership team prides ourselves on being flexible and creative with that flexibility to meet individual needs. To help with that in our current environment, my team has created a 30-minute training and associated resources to help managers/editors engage with employees on questions of self-care, need for flexibility and how to discuss performance expectations in a time where flexibility is needed. POLITICO is also using some new Slack channels (#wellness, #remotelife, #remotewithkids, #dogs, #watercooler) so that employees can share life hacks, ideas, or simply engage in small talk with each other.
What kind of support do people need from HR & managers these days?
Schweikert: Now that we have made the transition to remote/virtual work, our new normal has shifted to new work-life balance dynamics (especially for employees with children at home) and matters of self-care and good mental health. My team spends a good bit of every day on outreach. As we check-in with managers and employees they often say things like “Not sure what we can do about…” With that opening, we can look to creative solutions in terms of scheduling, shifting beats or assignments, or outreach to a coworker that might be struggling and isn’t sure how to come forward.
In addition, my team has transitioned many of our employee engagement activities to virtual formats so that we can continue to stay connected and continue to develop. In March we hosted a Women in Leadership Panel to wrap up Women’s History Month. Last Friday, we hosted our annual POLITICO Values Day via Slack. It was very uplifting to read responses from around POLITICO about how we collaborate (one of our four values) while recognizing those POLITICOs who go above and beyond.
More broadly, when should people come to HR?
Schweikert: HR professionals spend our careers gathering tools and best practices to make organizations and the employees we support more successful. We have spent the last few months preparing to apply those tools to our new virtual work environment. However, we need employees and managers to help us understand what is most helpful to them. Reach out to your HR team to let them know where you are challenged or are struggling and ask them to help you brainstorm creative solutions. Even if you think your need is small. Chances are, others have the same need. Now is not the moment for large company policies. Our employees are unique, and our people approaches should be just as unique.