Corporate Angels: September 11th Fund
Corrections or additions?
This article by Kathleen McGinn Spring was prepared for the
September 19, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights
reserved.
Helping Employees Cope With Grief
On September 11, Loida Noriega-Wilson reached
a friend at her New York City office. “She works north of the
World Trade Center area,” Wilson says. The financial district,
some 20 blocks south of her friend’s office, was burning; some of
its buildings were crumpling. But Wilson’s friend was in no physical
danger. In fact, she told Wilson, it was “`business as usual’”
in her office.
In this case, says Wilson, principal in the Norwil Group, a
Cranbury-based
human resources firm, that was not a good thing. “It’s
horrible,”
Wilson quotes her friend as saying. “None of the supervisors are
even acknowledging it. They’re not even telling us what time we can
go home.”
The message, says Wilson, was “We want you to get back to
work.”
The effect, she says, will be a day’s work completed more or less
as usual, and an office full of angry, resentful employees, who will
have little inclination ever to go the extra mile for their
supervisors
or their company.
Wilson’s company works with employers large and small that are falling
short of maximum results because of personnel issues. She is a
graduate
of the University of South Florida (Class of 1978) and is studying
for a masters in human resources management at Rutgers. She speaks
on “Stress in the Workplace” at the fall meeting of the New
Jersey Department of Labor Central Region Employer Council on
Wednesday,
September 26, at 8 a.m. at the Somerset Marriott. No cost. Call
732-937-6285.
Often, there are stressed employees in an office. Illness, a death
in the family, a troubled child, a parent in poor health, all of these
situations distract workers. Now, with the entire country trying to
come to grips with the unthinkable tragedy that occurred in a city
just up the road, a city to which so many area residents commute,
no workplace is spared.
“This is a magnification of what happens every day,” she says.
“People are numb. They’re saying `I’ve turned on my computer,
but haven’t gotten much done.’” Grief, says Wilson, is “a
major, major stress.”
When people are under stress, there are chemical changes in their
bodies. “Parts of the brain shut down,” Wilson says. Employers
would be wise to understand this, both for the good of their workers,
and for the good of their businesses. She suggests steps for managers
who want to help their workers to get through this tragedy, and to
become fully productive as soon as possible.
Acknowledge that something has happened. It’s not businessas usual. Whether it’s giving time off to employees who want to helpwith rescue efforts, allowing televisions to be on during memorialservices, or just spending time dropping by cubicles to see howemployeesare coping, managers need to let their workers know that they areaware that they are going through a difficult time.Listen. In addition to talking to employees one-on-one,encourage employees to speak with one another, perhaps by providinga time and place in which they can do so.Put big projects on the back burner. Energy levels areapt to be low, and attention scattered, making this less than an idealtime to kick off a major campaign.Galvanize the troops. Wilson, who has spent portions ofher career working abroad, says “Americans step up to the plate.That’s where we excel.” The best thing employers can do is toget their workers involved in helping out. “Right now,” shesays, “people are feeling helpless. Get them involved in a blooddrive, a fund raiser.” She speaks of a company that bought reamsof white ribbon to put on trees and cars, and of a New Brunswick carwash that decided to donate a Saturday’s proceeds to the reliefeffort.”One thing about America as a culture,” says Wilson.”We’re a very giving people. That’s the spirit that flows throughthe people.”Top Of PageCorporate Angels: September 11th FundThe outpouring of sympathy for victims of the September11 tragedy has generated a wave of donations and some major news inthe nonprofit world. In a display of cooperation, various fundinggroups have pooled their resources to form The September 11th Fund,a central fund to help the victims of terrorist attacks in New YorkCity and elsewhere in the United States. Williams Gas Pipeline, whichhas offices on Farber Road, gave $1 million as seed money.The fund, which can receive donations from across the country, wasestablished on the very afternoon that the tragedy occurred. Forefficiency’ssake — and to cut costs — it will be administered by justtwo groups, the United Way of New York City and New York CommunityTrust. Yet it will be supported by local United Ways, United Way ofAmerica, and the Council of Foundations, to which the Princeton AreaCommunity Foundation (PACF) belongs. Mercer’s United Way gave twogifts of $25,000, one to the fund and one to the American Red Crossof Central New Jersey.”Since two very competent organizations are taking care of itthere, there is no reason to do it here as well,” says NancyKieling, director of the PACF. “We are recommending that peopleuse The September 11 Fund in New York.”Relief money will be allocated to emergency assistance agencies andother nonprofit health and human services agencies. For instance,donations might be used to help those who now have no income —the World Trade Center’s shopkeepers, clerks, janitors who may havesurvived but don’t have any work, says Kieling. “We haven’t evenseen the human devastation to it yet.”Send donations to The September 11th Fund, c/o United Way of New YorkCity, 2 Park Avenue, New York 10016 or go to www.uwnyc.org.“Many of the greatest needs in this community will be relatedto post traumatic stress syndrome,” says PACF’s Kieling.Top Of PageShare Your OfficeAs of Friday, September 14, at least 10 New Jerseycompanieshad collectively offered 95 temporary workspaces to businesses andworkers displaced as a result of the terrorist attack on the WorldTrade Center. They responded to a call from Prosperity New Jersey,which has created WorkSpaceLink to bring together companies with extraspace with those that need it as a result of the terrorist attack.Steve Sasala, president of Prosperity New Jersey, implementedthe program by sending out dozens of E-mail messages to board members,corporate friends, and other business associates.Companies with space to offer can do so by posting it on theProsperityNew Jersey website (www.prosperitynj.org) under the heading”WorkSpaceLink.”Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
