Wait for it…
Any minute now some executive is going to come into your office and ask ‘you’ what you’re doing about this Ebola outbreak!
I’m not trying to slight the importance and the tragedy that disease is currently on path to creating in West Africa, it’s horrific. But our American media is bringing this to hysteria levels in the states! As of my time writing this, there are 3 confirmed cases of Ebola in the U.S. and one death.
Yesterday in the U.S., approximately, this many people died from:
- Heart Disease: 1,637
- Cancer: 1,574
- Stroke: 354
- Accidents: 331
- The Flu: 139
That’s each day people!
But, you my fellow HR Pro are going to have to answer this question very, very soon. What is ‘your’ plan to address Ebola?
Not, hey how about we actually fund our Wellness program properly and maybe we can really save some of our employees from what’s going to kill them! Eating crappy food, smoking, drinking themselves to death, texting while driving, NOT getting the freaking Flu shot we pay for! I could go on…
But, here’s your plan for Ebola, it will keep your executive off your back, so you can get back to real work:
Step 1 – We are going to insist all of our employees get Flu Shots this season. Why? Because Ebola symptoms mirror Flu symptoms, so it’s just a matter of time until Tammy, our inhouse hypochondriac, comes to me telling me she has Ebola and the entire staff freaks out!
Step 2 – We are going to communicate with our employees about the realities of how one catches Ebola. The CDC has many of these documents and videos.
Step 3– We are going to tell our employees if they have a fever, to stay home until it’s gone. Also, let them know that fevers actually can happen on any day, not just Mondays and Fridays.
Step 4 – We are going to give some statistics about the risks of one of our employees catching Ebola in cute little pictures. Like one that shows a person getting struck by lightening and eaten by a shark at the same time. You have more of a chance of this happening than contracting Ebola in the U.S.
Step 5 – You will keep asking the executive who asked you about your Ebola Crisis Plan if they are feeling well, because they don’t look well?!?!
Seriously, though, get your employees to get a Flu shot this season! It might be the one thing that will help them out. Not against Ebola, but with actually keeping themselves healthy. They don’t need help from Ebola, yet.
a little off topic, but very few people in the US actually die from the flu. If you read the fine print closely, the category for deaths by flu also includes pnuemonia. When you dig into those numbers a little deeper, a rather small percentaage of those deaths are actually attributable to the flu. does it make sense for the young, old and/or those with poor immune systems get the shot? Probably. Do i think the same kind of hysteria about the flu is created to get more people to pay for the flu shot? absolutely.
Great article Tim and contemporary. I was pondering about the very issue addressed in the article, especially the HRM being approached by some pedantic executive and called upon to make a ‘power point’ presentation in the form of a SWOT – Analysis on the subject matter of EBOLA and whilst at it, table a Draft Company Policy – Contagious Diseases (DCPCD) to the Board, or as they are referred to by some, ‘The Boys Upstairs’.
Ebola is good for billable hours…an old consulting friend of mine called yesterday about two clients with hysteria in their offices (we are in DFW.)
I am betting the under on Ebola versus flu deaths in DFW for 12 months (- 26 +).