These are challenging, difficult times. One of the pressing issues is determining when is the right time to open the economy and get back to some sense of normalcy in the workforce.
This topic is ever present when it comes to our workplace environments. As we prepare to forge forward, we need to start planning now.
We have identified questions every organization needs to ask itself as it considers re-engagement.
The first are: Is our workplace supporting employee safety? How do we address the physical limitations of our work environments? What can be done in a short time, with an ease of implementation and in a fiscally responsible way?
Here are a few of the essential approaches all businesses should be considering:
- Visible housekeeping: Promote active cleaning procedures during the workday. Gone are the days of just the cleaning crew coming in at nighttime. Let your team see that the spaces are being cleaned throughout the day. Encourage your internal team to promote the same practices.
- Workplace environment: Establish protocols by area, such as new rules for welcoming people into the reception area, maintain 6 feet social distance in open workplan zones, eliminate hoteling and use of touchdown areas until the threat of the virus has been mitigated, and limit the number of people in conference rooms and collaboration spaces, as well as use of shared resources in those areas.
- Operations: Limit the number of touch surfaces (door handles, shared coffee machines and water coolers, elevator buttons, etc.), add antimicrobial finishes/pads, install fever scanning systems, encourage virtual meetings even within the office environment.
These are some of the physical aspects we need to be aware of but, there is still something missing. Is our workplace supporting employee wellbeing?
To successfully navigate the pandemic, consider also how to preserve strong personal bonds in the workplace. Since COVID-19, a culture of caring and wellbeing is more important than ever with a direct impact on morale, productivity, reduced stress, and improved health.
In this way, the workplace can become a safe place — a reprieve from the lack of control in the rest of our lives. The soul of an organization is developed through the actions of its people and how they treat each other and the people around them.
Now more than ever extra attention needs to be put into the growth of the individual(s), and organizations need to build on their core beliefs, values, and attitudes.
- Communication: Establish an office-wide protocol that clearly states the organizations rules on safety and wellbeing. Update it frequently and ensure employees understand their safety is a priority.
- Remote working and scheduling: Determine who absolutely needs to be in the office and when. Limit the number of employees in the office at any one time, especially when dealing with open-plan office areas. Consider extenuating circumstances such as who might be immunocompromised and who has children displaced from schools or daycare.
- Create social connections: Whether it is Coffee Chat Monday or Roundtable Friday, find ways to reestablish the personal relationships among your colleagues. These are stressful times. But the more your employees look forward to working together, the better your organization will weather this and future storms.
There is more to consider, of course, and many articles have been published with checklists for reentering the workplace. But after all these investments, remember to go back to the people and the culture. Are the new policies supporting a work-life balance and reinforcing healthy habits? Do the changes sustain emotional wellbeing?
If you can confidently say yes, plan proactively and achieve buy-in. This is about valuing human capital while we invest in better work platforms for a bright, post-pandemic future.
Christopher Bockstael is a partner with Svigals + Partners, a national architecture, arts and advisory firm based in New Haven creating workplaces for corporations, universities, nonprofits, hospitals and more.
