The pandemic has changed the way we work forever and with many employees having been working from home for almost two years, bringing them back into the workplace, even for just a few days a week, brings with it some new challenges for businesses.
While some employees will be eager to return, having missed the social side of the office, others will be filled with anxiety and worry, so its important to develop a safe while welcoming environment on their return.
With staff choosing to stay remote, work on a hybrid basis, or come back full-time, the company will need to review employee policies and to make sure all the IT systems can work fully and securely in every potential location.
For this guest post we asked our friend Tim, a freelance writer for Calix.com, to give us his views on this subject. For him there are many different aspects for employers to look at, so he has pulled together the five key things to consider when bringing employees back to the workplace:
Increased hygiene measures
One of the major concerns people have about returning to the office is the risk of catching Covid-19 due the enclosed spaces and large numbers of people present at any one time, so this is the key worry that employers will need to address.
One way to help reassure employees that it is safe to return is to ensure that there are clear increased hygiene measures in place, such as more regular cleaning services, provision of hand gel and wipes at desks, can all help with this perception.
Ensuring the office is well ventilated and avoiding overcrowding by staggering when different staffing groups come in, are some other ways that employers can show they value and are listening to the concerns of their staff about returning to the office.
Providing mental health support
The pandemic has seen increasing levels of mental ill health including anxiety, depression, isolation and loneliness and some of these issues are likely to show up in the workplace as people start to return.
These issues on top of regular work stress, burnout and fear over covid, mean that the workforce that is returning will require extra mental health support. Providing services such as free helplines, quiet rooms for relaxation and mental health first aiders can all make a big difference and demonstrate to employees that they are value and supported.
Providing healthy lifestyle support
Remote working has provided a lot of flexibility but for many it will also have led to a more sedentary routine, getting out of bed and going down to the laptop, so employees might struggle to get back into a regular office and commuting regime when they first start.
By offering some healthy lifestyle support such as regular breaks, access to gym facilities and other benefits such as discounts for healthy food stores, employers can support employees who might struggle back to work due to fitness and lifestyle changes.
Providing employees with the same level of flexibility as they had while working from home, for example, by trusting them to get on with their work, and allowing them to flex the hours they come in, can also help to reassure them and encourage them to come back in.
Giving employees recognition for their work
The past two years has been very hard for many and there has been a perception perpetuated in the media that those working from home were just being lazy or looking after their children rather than actually working.
The reality is that many home workers have struggled to keep the boundaries between work and home life, working many more hours than they would have done if they had to leave the office at 5pm. Not to mention all the time that would have been spent commuting, chatting and making coffee with colleagues, has now been spent working at home alone.
For this reason, recognition of everything employees have contributed and been through in the past two years is really important as they start to come back to the office, so they feel valued and appreciated.
Encouraging staff engagement
Many workers won’t have seen their colleagues in person for almost two years, while some staff may have joined the firm remotely and never met anyone, which can make coming to the office and suddenly having to socialise with people very daunting.
Setting up staff engagement opportunities such as networking events for people to meet each other and ensuring that office staff are able to connect with remote staff, will help to bring everyone together for the company’s purpose.
Acknowledging that many staff will welcome the return, while others will feel incredibly wary of mixing, will be key to managing this stage of the return to work. Offering opportunities to reconnect without people feeling forced to socialise is the careful balance to consider.
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