It used to be that YouTube and Fantasy Football were the biggest productivity killers in the office, but these days, thoughts about looming foreclosures, plummeting 401Ks, and losing their jobs will steal your employees time and attention much more aggressively than a video of a baby panda sneezing.

The fact is that the state of the economy is effecting us all on many levels from personal finances to the sales pipeline, and whether or not your employees jobs or financial security are in fact at risk, it’s on their minds and you can’t arrest these distractions with a firewall like you can a sniffley panda.

When your teams basic needs are at risk, or perceived to be at risk, they are not going to be focused on quarterly targets or a new product launch, and can you blame them? As effective as quarterly bonuses and team building retreats may be sometimes, they cannot assuage an employee’s fears that they may not be able to meet their basic needs. Here are three steps you can do to bolster morale and help you team and your business weather the storm…

1. Talk Honesty to Your People

One of the biggest fears is the fear of the unknown, and believe me, most times people imaginations are far scarier than reality. As managers, we can’t guarantee our people financial security, and in sometimes we can’t even guarantee they’ll have a job in 6 months, but we can be honest with them about what is going on, how the current client is affecting our industry, our customers and our company and we can share with them what we are doing. At the highest level, come up with an internal communications strategy to keep you people in the loop and part of the conversation.

2. Don’t Just Talk, LISTEN

The first step to addressing the needs of your team is knowing and understanding what those needs are. Be a barometer at your business. Gauge the office climate and determine what the major feelings and concerns are. As a manager, be accessible and listen to individual members of your team. Let your team know that your company understands that times are tough and you are there to help.

3. Respond to Their Needs

Now that your team understands what’s happening and you understand what is on their minds, it’s time to act. As far as the company’s financial needs, well, we are always working on that, but during times of economic uncertainty it would behoove us as a company to address the financial needs of our employees.

Consider Flex time or Flex place Options

Moving your investments, managing your 401K, getting a mortgage loan modification all takes time and unfortunately it usually takes time during business hours. If you have employees that need to deal with financial issues during business hours, giving them some flexibility in their schedule can really empower them to compartmentalize rather than trying to type reports while they sit on hold with their mortgage companies customer service line.

Flex place (or telecommuting) can also take a big burden off your employees. My commute is almost 2 hours round trip and with my gas guzzler it costs me roughly $15-20 in gas a day, not to mention 2 hours of my time and miles on my car, and $3.50 in tolls. When I don’t bring my own lunch, I usually end of dropping $10-15 a day for food. Now if I had kids throw in some child care, which on a non-school day can run $80-100. Basically it can cost anywhere from $30 – $150 a day to come to work. Allowing your employees to telecommute can offer them significant savings, not to mention, most people love working from home.

Help them get their finances straight…

Many of your employees probably already have a financial adviser or some professional helping them manage their investments. The one’s that don’t are going to be the most distracted by fluctuations in the market and the panic in the press. Try retaining the services of a good financial adviser for your employees. Having someone more qualified looking out for their financial well being will not only take a little of the edge off, but will likely yield better results than watching Mad Money.

Help them cut costs…

You can also help your employees cut costs taking advantage of the size of your organization. In many cases, depending on the size of your company, you can negotiate discounted rates for your employees from things like Costco or Gym memberships to Auto inspections and oil changes.

If many of the people in your company live a relatively close geographical area you can help them save on home heating by organizing an oil delivery coop. Home heating oil companies will often give a discount if 10 or more people in a town schedule to have all their oil delivered on the same day so they save money on fuel making the deliveries. Another way you can pool people together to save is by organizing carpooling.

Sure, your employees personal finances and expenses are their own responsibility, but if you provide them with resources to help them through this tough time, combined with open and honest communications they will have less to distract them at their desks and it will set you apart from other potential ports in the storm.

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