The 2025 LA wildfires prompted a national response from affected organizations. Host Monique Akanbi and Christine Rodman, founder and CEO of Lynx Employer Resources LLC and state director for SHRM CA, discuss how HR professionals can prepare and support their fellow employees in the event of a natural disaster. This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires March 1, 2026 Honest HR is the go-to podcast for aspiring and informed HR professionals intent on transforming workplace challenges into golden opportunities. Hosted by Amber Clayton, Monique Akanbi, and Wendy Fong, this podcast brings you insights, trends, and actionable advice through relatable stories from the REAL world of HR. Along with Honest HR, the HR Daily newsletter delivers daily insights, trends, and expert advice, empowering HR professionals to build a productive, engaged workforce and drive organizational success. Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz --- Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career. Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
The 2025 LA wildfires prompted a national response from affected organizations. Host Monique Akanbi and Christine Rodman, founder and CEO of Lynx Employer Resources LLC and state director for SHRM CA, discuss how HR professionals can prepare and support their fellow employees in the event of a natural disaster.
This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires March 1, 2026
Honest HR is the go-to podcast for aspiring and informed HR professionals intent on transforming workplace challenges into golden opportunities. Hosted by Amber Clayton, Monique Akanbi, and Wendy Fong, this podcast brings you insights, trends, and actionable advice through relatable stories from the REAL world of HR. Along with Honest HR, the HR Daily newsletter delivers daily insights, trends, and expert advice, empowering HR professionals to build a productive, engaged workforce and drive organizational success.
Subscribe to HR Daily to get the latest episodes, expert insights, and additional resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://shrm.co/voegyz
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Explore SHRM’s all-new flagships. Content curated by experts. Created for you weekly. Each content journey features engaging podcasts, video, articles, and groundbreaking newsletters tailored to meet your unique needs in your organization and career. Learn More: https://shrm.co/coy63r
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Welcome to Honest HR, the podcast for informed and aspiring HR professionals intent on transforming workplace challenges into golden opportunities. Every week we chat with industry experts to bring you insights, trends, and actionable advice. through relatable stories from the real world of HR. Honest HR is a SHRM podcast, and by joining us, you're helping to build a more engaged workforce and drive organizational success.
I'm Wendy Fong. I'm Amber Clayton. And I'm Monique Akonbi. Now, let's get honest.
Monique Akanbi: Hello and welcome to Honest HR. I am Monique Akanbi, Membership Initiatives Director with SHRM. And today's topic is a topic that is relevant to the things that we are dealing with every day, honestly, and that is how do we respond to natural disasters? Recently, there have been a series of wildfires that have impacted the Los Angeles, California area.
And our guest is none other than Christine Rodman, founder and CEO of Lynx Employer Resources, but also someone that is not new or not a stranger to responding to wildfires, but also surviving a wildfire. Thank you for being a guest on Honest HR, Chris.
Christine Rodman: Well, thank you for having me. Monique. It's a pleasure to be here.
Monique Akanbi: As we think about the recent events regarding the wildfires, I just wanted to take a moment to pause and just really, um, send in heartfelt, um, sympathy and empathy for those that were either directly or indirectly impacted. Watched very closely, uh, the, uh, series of wildfires and the impact. Um, I couldn't do anything, but just really feel heartbreak, honestly, if I were able to describe it and couldn't even imagine, uh, one, what I would do if I were in that situation, but also feeling a little helpless, recognizing that I was across the other side of the United States.
States and really wanting to help. And so I'm really excited about this episode and ways that you can share and bring in your expertise to share how employers can support employees and individuals as a result of, um, being impacted by the wildfires. But then also I always use the analogy of it's, When there is a natural disaster, we we experience a flood of support in the beginning, but the next news story comes along and then we forget about those that were impacted by that natural disaster.
So I'm really interested to hear about what employers can do to support employees on a long term basis. And so, um, thank you for being here and for our audience. Could you share a little bit more about who you are?
Christine Rodman: Well, thank you for that. You know, it what's going on in our community. It has been very devastating here in California and even across the nation when we have hurricanes and other natural disasters, it's such a big impact to our greater HR community. Currently, I sit as state director for SHRM California as well as the membership Advisory Council for SHRM. And so in those two roles, outside of my business on my volunteer time, you know, we did spend a lot of time figuring out, well, how can we be supportive to our HR community, especially since I have firsthand experience, unfortunately, back in 2017, I was impacted by the Tubbs fire, where it had very similar, they basically called it a firestorm that ran through our beautiful Sonoma County wine countries. And I. Can tell you that the role of H. R. so important whenever there's a natural disaster, regardless of what it is. important for us to act swiftly. It's important for us to be prepared. And for me, it's about empathy and it's about people first. And so that's where I go whenever something like this happens. about our people and trying to figure out, well, how can we help them?
Monique Akanbi: Yeah, thank you for sharing that. I think that in full transparency, Chris and I work closely together in her role as the State Council Director for SHRM California. And that is one of the things that I love about our HR community is that when one is community is impacted. Everyone is is impacted. I am based in Florida, and so I'm no stranger to hurricanes.
And so recognizing that when Again, one community is impacted. We all step in and really lend that support for one another. Um, what are first steps? Employers, Chris, in your opinion, um, employers should take those first steps. Employers should take immediately after a natural disaster. And what about a natural disaster that may be further away than where the organization is?
And they have employees in that area.
Christine Rodman: Well, first and foremost, you prioritize their safety. And oftentimes these things happen, you know, outside of the workspace in terms of outside of work hours. And for instance, the fire that took place was during the evening hours or late at night and resources aren't readily available. It's really difficult to. Find out who's impacted. And so it's really important to check in with your employees, assess if there's damage within your workplace and pretty much activate your disaster response plans. Hopefully, every employer will have. an active plan in place. I think it's important to also make sure you have insurance coverages as an employer to, uh, when these natural disasters occur to be able to utilize insurance and pay your employees and provide financial assistance and, but essentially being there and communicating.
And so the first thing is obviously you want to make sure that everyone is safe and that I typically do a roll call of the people in my community within California. We were on the phone constantly with our friends down in Southern California, just to see, Hey, how can we help you? Are you safe? Great.
You're safe. Well, how can we help you? I think is the first thing to do. And if you're far away, it doesn't matter that you're far away necessarily. You could still be a support and respond. I know. When we partnered with SHRM National, we all got on a phone call together, or a zoom call, I should say, and we talked about how we can support some of these people that are impacted by the fires. So, it doesn't matter that if you're remote or you're far away, I think with technology and being able to get a hold of people via WhatsApp, texting, uh, satellite phones, you know, we could be there and respond to folks across the country.
Monique Akanbi: for sharing that. And I know, um, you and I, we either are texting and, you know, just checking in. And then also we have local chapters throughout the state of California, but there was, there are two chapters in that area, um, or in the surrounding area impacted. So being able to communicate with them and share, um, you know, or, or, uh, Identify what are those immediate needs and ways that we can support as well.
Um, how can employers quickly assess the safety of their employees and the workplace outside of just calling, um, or reaching out to them? Are there other ways that employers can assess the safety of their employees?
Christine Rodman: Well, oftentimes we would contact emergency services or partner have partnerships established with different nonprofit agencies, uh, the red American Red Cross, FEMA, and local law enforcement to sometimes do well checks. I've had situations here in Sonoma County where we didn't have access. We, our power was out and we didn't have access to communicate With our people, and so we leverage support from calling the sheriff's department and tried to find out ways.
You know, can we find out if our employees are safe, or can we make sure that they were able to get out those types of things? Again, calling, you know, emergency contacts that we have on file, making sure that we can reach out and at least touch base and find out if our employees are, in fact, safe.
Monique Akanbi: So, I know firsthand when you have been impacted, or I know when I have been impacted by a natural disaster, be it hurricanes, for me, um, the last thing I'm thinking about in that moment is work, right? There's a lot of things that I'm dealing with. And fortunately for me, I have not. Um, experience significant loss or damage as a result of a natural disaster.
But I know the impact that it can have from an emotional standpoint, but also from a logistical standpoint of those that may have lost their home. And we're talking about individuals that in a matter of minutes lost their entire life. Before them, not their lives, but their homes, right? Or even schools, right?
So the, what life, life, what they knew it to be prior to the fires, um, is no longer. And they have to identify what their new life looks like. Um, and there's a lot of emotions that, Come along with that. So how can H. R. Professionals support employees dealing with the aftermath of a disaster from an emotional and logistic standpoint?
Christine Rodman: Well, I would say first and foremost, it does take a really long time. This process doesn't just, you know, when it, when the fires are no longer in our news cycle. It's still impacting the lives of our community and our employees, and I think it's important to recognize that it is going to be a long road to recovery for those individuals. The other thing I want to bring up is that there is an immense sense of loss because they may not, or they may have lost somebody, you know, someone might have been able to get out. and reach safety or they're dealing with their own loss of their home, their whole life. And so there's grief and there's different stages of grief.
And I think it's really important for us to remember the human aspect of it. There, there are some transactional things that have to take place. There's paperwork that we deal with, but I don't want to ever lose sight of that human aspect that We want to be there for our employees in the long term and showing them that we care, asking them how they are. And that goes way beyond just when it ends in the new cycle. It could take three to six years to rebuild. And so just recognizing that using empathy, you know, showing concern and genuine concern. The other thing I want to point out is that one size does not fit all for all employees. And so it's important as an HR leader that we sort of pivot to, you know, some employees may tell us exactly what they need and others, it might be very difficult.
And it's important to show that we are supportive and just asking them, how can I help you or what do you need? And they may not know that answer to the question, but you just, you're there for them. You share with them in that experience. It might be that they just want you to sit with them in silence, or they may want to just be distracted and have something else to, to look forward to. So I think it's just important to really not lose sight of that is genuine support isn't just, you know, what happens in the next couple of months. It goes on for years.
Monique Akanbi: So outside of support long term beyond the immediate, um, event that occurred a natural disaster that occurred. What are ways that HR can foster trust and resilience with their employees during these challenging times?
Christine Rodman: Well, I think that there needs to be a lot of communication and transparency, uh, providing those support days or letting them take the time that they need, or if there's financial assistance or support, there might be ways to provide, uh, Mental health for our employees. You could I know, in some instances here locally, we did hire some psychologists and counselors to come out to our workspace to provide support and in the greater community. And so that that really goes a long way with your employees. But I think that just, you know, communicating with a lot of transparency and just showing empathy. Um, listen, acknowledge their hardship because it is significant. And also you want to be proactive and don't wait for them to come to you. Reach out to them.
Monique Akanbi: Thank you for sharing that. Um, I think about, you mentioned grief. Um, and oftentimes we think of grief in the form of losing someone, um, to maybe a death, but there's all forms of grief. Um, and it could be. The grief of you lost your home, right? Or again, going back to, um, I'm grieving life as I knew it prior to this event.
Um, and being able as HR professionals to support our employees through that process, there was something that you shared. In terms of tips or things that individuals can do, um, to lend support or phrases to stay away from, right, because oftentimes there's no ill intent or malintent, um, in some of our responses.
And we think we're supporting individuals. Um, and sometimes our words can often do more harm than good. Are there any phrases or actions, I would say, that you would recommend, um, not only just HR professionals, but going back to that human aspect when you're wanting to support someone that has, um, experienced a natural disaster, are there anything, um, that they should stay away from to, to show your support, but also, um, let them know that you're there and, and not being insensitive.
Christine Rodman: Absolutely. Well, one thing that sticks out in my mind is asking them questions. Especially when you're thinking about they're experiencing significant loss, so don't ask them. Well, what did you lose because I feel like if you're asking that question, it's it brings it right to the surface, you know, when they're having to respond to you, they're acknowledging and that, you know, they in fact are going through this loss.
And so some, sometimes that might not be helpful unless they want to talk about it. But I would say just be open. And when you ask questions you want to show concern. Um, I would avoid comparing other, Oh, I heard so and so they, they lost everything too or you hear another story where, Oh, my friend's house survived.
Thank goodness for that. It does not help. the person that's grieving or suffering the loss. Other things might be, well, at least you're safe. Well, of course, yes. Thank you for acknowledging I am safe, but please don't diminish the fact that I am going through a significant loss. So those are some things that I'd probably say, uh, also keeping politics out of it as well, or what the causes might be maybe down the way they might be okay with. Talking about it, but right now just be open, flexible with what you're willing to support them with. Um, I want to say that, you know, if you want to bring them dinner, you want to give them a gift card, be flexible about that. Don't assume again, don't assume that one size fits all. Don't assume that they want all of your secondhand clothes or that they want Things that you aren't using anymore. They may just want your company or they just may want to have dinner or extraction away from everything that they're dealing with.
Monique Akanbi: Those are really good. Tips and pointers as well. Um, I think we often just immediately go to trying to find the silver lining and a, um, traumatic events. Um, so that's really a good reminder, um, not to do that, but really, um, What I take from it is ask the question, how can I support and then allowing them that space to be able to share ways that I can support or as an employer, you can support and even in that moment when they don't know how.
You can support giving them that space to say, well, even if you don't know now, let me know when you think of it and you have a moment to gather your thoughts, um, or think about ways that you can be supported, then let us know from a mental health standpoint, you shared bringing in, um, mental health, support.
Professionals to be able to share, um, or talk through the events or the emotions. Are there other mental health needs or resources that you would recommend employers consider as a result of a traumatic event?
Christine Rodman: Well, I would say that if the employer can afford to have a resource for an EAP or an employee assistance program, you know, that that doesn't just. It's tied just directly to disaster relief. It has other services and other referral available for employees. I would say at a minimum, they should look at having an EAP program. Those can definitely at times of need can be an excellent resource for employees. Um, there may be partnerships that you can establish with nonprofit agencies locally. Again, we have the American Red Cross. We have, I know the United Way has been really helpful to provide resources for mental health, um, and referrals. And again, they, that it doesn't cost anything to reach out and partner with. Within the community, uh, making sure that your health plans offer those types of services as well would be something I would recommend,
Monique Akanbi: Thanks for sharing that. Um, and I want to take a moment because there are over 28, 000 SHRM members in the state of California, um, and recognizing that the Los Angeles area has a large number of SHRM members, um, in that area that were impacted either directly or indirectly by the wildfires. And I know from firsthand experience.
The California SHRM State Council jumping in and really communicating and sharing with the communities that have been impacted your support and things that you all are working on. The State Council is working on, uh, to provide resources and supports. I just wanted to make space for that opportunity just to share a little bit about the California SHRM State Council and What you all are doing, which is led by a group of volunteer leaders as well, an HR professionals.
Um, so what is it that you all are doing to provide support to those communities impacted?
Christine Rodman: you know, it's an honor for me to be a part of SHRM, California and basically being the governing body above over our 16 chapters, the community that we have is Amazing. And when the fires first hit the news and we were, we, we first became aware of it. We material, you know, we mobilized, we got on the phone, we were texting.
I know I was calling you and we got on a call. Like, how can we support our members? And that meant so much, you know, having been through this experience myself, I felt helpless. I wanted to do more and I love the fact that we were able to come together and you know, when great minds come together, all these great ideas come to be and for come into fruition.
And so I was so excited that we had a, the interest within our community to jump in and help, especially our chapters that were most impacted down in Southern California. And we put together, A donation drive for our Q1 or quarterly meeting and we were able to raise funds for those impacted chapter members. We also created a resource page on our own website. And thank you, SHRM, for all of the great resources, especially Monique, you know, you jumped in to help us. That was incredible. You know, my friend Gina Elion at SHRM NorCal always says it takes a village, and it truly does take a village, and we have an incredible community here in California, and I'm very proud to be a part of that.
Monique Akanbi: Well, That is one of the things that I love about our community is just the way that we step in and support one another, whether it is a wildfire or a hurricane. I know a few months ago, we were just having this discussion on the East Coast when Hurricane Helene impacted the California. I mean, California.
Carolina and Georgia area, um, and also parts of Florida. Um, also, so whether it is a wildfire or a hurricane or even a tornado, um, one of the things that are inevitable are natural disasters in ways that employers can truly step in and support. But then also how do we leverage community and that village that you were just referring to, to be able to show others that we are here, whether it's to be a listening ear or to take up donations for other resources that those individuals that have been impacted need.
How can employees use lessons or how can companies rather use lessons learned to improve disaster response plans?
Christine Rodman: Well, first, I would say, take it seriously. You know, I know natural disasters don't happen every day. You know, we always joke here in California that we're going to have the next big earthquake, which is true. It could be today. It could be tomorrow, but sometimes it's out of sight, out of mind. And I think it's really important now, especially that we're coming off the heels of. The firestorms is that this is a different world that we're living in right now and we need to be prepared. So make sure that you have updated emergency action plans. Make sure that you get feedback from, you know, what worked, what doesn't work and update your plans accordingly. Uh, making sure that you have up to date emergency contacts for all of your employees.
I mean, there's so many things that we can do, but making sure that it's a priority, I think would be my advice, for employers.
Monique Akanbi: We're just seeing natural disasters pop up in areas where normally, um, we would not right. Who would have thought as I shared, I'm based in Florida that in my city, Tallahassee, we would have last year been impacted by tornadoes. Um, and so I think it's really important just to reemphasize what you shared that employers have.
An active plan that it is continually updated and have a cadence for ensuring that emergency contact information for your, for employees are, are updated.
Chris, thank you so much for sharing your experience and your deep insights as well. Are there any other resources or tools that our audience should utilize as it relates to either preparing for a natural disaster or responding to a natural disaster?
Christine Rodman: Absolutely. I would encourage all, all of your employees as well as the employer to register for local emergency apps, one being what we call a watch duty. which is a wildfire map mapping system where it will alert you anytime there is a wildfire within so many miles of your location. There's also the windy app on windy.
com that shows wind direction so when you are dealing with wildfires and there's excessive winds you'll be able to tell or predict, you know, What direction the fire is going to go. And then we have PulsePoint, which is another app that is more for any kind of emergency services that they can be notified on their phones or any smart device of anything that's going on in their neighborhood.
Monique Akanbi: Thank you for sharing that. I know watch duty has been helpful for me as I monitor the wildfires in California. Um, and it's a great tool in addition to the others that you've shared, and I'm sure that there are many others, but thank you for sharing just a few that have been helpful. For you and for the California community as a whole.
Well, that's going to do it for this week's episode of Honest HR. We have new content each week so head to SHRM. org forward slash HR Daily to learn more. Thanks for joining and we'll catch you next time.
This podcast is approved for .5 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification. Listen to the complete episode to get your activity ID at the end. ID expires on March 1st, 2026.