Flushing organization delivers grants to Asian
small business owners impacted by COVID-19
BY DOUG CLAFFEY
ENERGAGE
Employee feedback plays a
vital role in any return-to-work
plan. The first thing leaders
need to do – before any transition
plan is communicated to
the staff – is to gather employee
feedback via a short, targeted
survey. This provides the critical
data needed to help inform a
successful plan.
Think of the return-to-work
transition plan in three phases:
1. Planning input: Human
resources, a tiger team or a combination
of both develop a plan to
return to the workplace.
2. Post-decision: Make sure
your plan is clear and thorough
before you begin to execute.
3. Post-return: Assess the transition,
how it went and where
there are hotspots.
From the start, it’s important
to capture employee feedback
while you are formulating
your plan. There are two critical
factors to consider:
1. Who is at risk? Know how
many of your employees are at a
higher risk of serious complications
from COVID. Also, be aware
of how many employees are caregivers
for people who have complications
for COVID. Employees
that are immunocompromised or
have breathing challenges are in
a higher-risk category.
2. Who has childcare challenges?
Childcare is one of the
biggest pressure points we’ve
seen. Employees who are caregivers
to school-aged children, particularly
in the 5- to 10-year-old
range, require a lot of time and
attention. Schools, camps and
other care settings are probably
not an option.
Focus your attention on
three key topics as you begin
your transition:
1. Productivity: Are people going
to be more productive as they
come into the office?
2. Emotions: What emotions
are people feeling? These can
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.34 COM | OCT. 23-OCT. 29, 2020
range from fear to excitement.
3. Logistics: Determine the
who, what and how logistics of
returning to the workplace.
If employees are fearful of
contracting COVID, the way
they perceive the workplace is
going to be different than others.
There’s a very good chance
this will create drama throughout
your organization. But if
you can get out ahead of that,
you can really save yourself a
headache and also be more productive
when you’re making
this transition.
Lastly, this is the new reality.
Be deliberate. Be thoughtful.
Make your employees feel like
they’re part of the planning process
and that their input matters.
And after you’ve communicated
the plan and started the
rollout, continue to collect their
feedback so they feel valued
and heard. This is mportant.
Because if you don’t put a lot of
thought into it, your business
will suffer a significant impact.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The Asian American Federation
(AAF) delivered $1,000
grants each to 40 small business
owners who responded to
its COVID-19 Economic Impact
Survey for Asian American
Small Business Owners.
The small business owners
showed up in person at the
LIRR Murray Hill station in
Flushing on Tuesday, Oct. 13
to receive their grants. AAF
plans to mail out the rest to
those who were unable to attend
the event.
Supported by a generous
grant of $100,000 dollars from
the Surdna Foundation, AAF
was able to offer the grant to
randomly selected survey respondents.
“We are glad to help support
our small business owners
now and hope this leads to
some way in helping with the
rebuilding efforts. Thank you
to all the small business owners
who stay resilient in this difficult
time,” said Sophy Yem, program
officer of Philanthropy,
Surdna Foundation.
Ahyoung Kim, assistant
director of Small Business
Programs at AAF, thanked everyone
who participated in the
survey.
“The findings of this survey
show how gravely our
community was impacted by
the pandemic, but more importantly,
highlights how our
community has been left out of
meaningful assistance,” Kim
said. “We will be publishing
a report on the findings from
this survey, as well as sharing
what we learned through our
advocacy efforts.”
While it is widely known
that Asian small businesses
have seen steep declines in
revenue from January of this
year, the preliminary findings
from AAF’s survey paints a
devastating picture of the state
of Asian American small businesses
in New York.
Of the respondents to AAF’s
survey, 55 percent stated that
their business operations have
been impacted by COVID-19,
and over 31 percent said their
business was temporarily
closed. Over 99 percent of respondents
reported declines
in their revenue, with almost
55 percent of them reporting
more than a 75 percent decline
in their revenue compared to
pre-pandemic times.
Asian American small
business owners also faced extreme
difficulty in accessing
working capital to keep their
businesses afloat.
When asked about access
to information for government
assistance or loans for small
businesses, over 40 percent
said they felt there was not
enough information in their
language. Over 35 percent said
their experience difficulty just
in connecting with a service
provider, and 22 percent said
they found information on
such programs confusing.
The findings from this survey
will be released as a brief
report in the near future, after
more data analysis, according
to AAF.
Councilman Peter Koo
acknowledged AAF and the
Surdna Foundation for their
assistance in helping Asian
small business owners impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We all know this is the
toughest time to do business
and the government is not
helping enough, so on behalf
of the City Council, I want to
thank the foundation and all
of you small business owners
for being the backbone of our
economy,” Koo said.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4526.
(From l. to r.) Ahyoung Kim, associate director of Small Business
Programs, AAF, City Councilman Peter Koo and Sophy Yem,
program officer of Philanthropy, Surdna Foundation.
Courtesy of AAF
Key steps to take before
returning to offi ce life
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