How to get back into the office safely?
- Develop your welcome back program
Finalize your employee program before setting the motions in place. It will allow your employees to hear one consistent message. Developing this program should not just be HR. It’s an all-hands-on-deck approach.
- Reconfigure your office space
Adjusting workspaces that comply with CDC guidelines isn’t just moving a bunch of desks around. Think about how the employees will interact with the new space. Does it promote productivity and comfort or anxiety and fear? Is it too loud? Is it too quiet that you can hear a pin drop? After working from home for more than a year, employee sensitivities have heightened across all the senses.
- Deploy work schedule system
If your office space cannot accommodate all your employees socially distanced at once, developing a work schedule system might be the best option until those have lifted. Develop a schedule that is easy to follow and takes into account.
- Enable workplace hygiene
Scheduling your office to be routinely cleaned is a given. But you to keep things clean while they are in the office. Add a survival kit full of disinfectants, masks, and other essentials for your employees to empower them with keeping their spaces clean.
- Be transparent
Make sure you are transparent as possible for all transitions. Give enough time for questions and equip your managers with the right resources for your employees.
- Allow for time and flexibility
After a year, statistics show they have developed a bubble working from home. It’s challenging to part away from what might be considered an emotional safety blanket. After all, they all had to hunker down and figure out how to work remotely in less than a week. Acknowledge it. Remind them of all the things you are doing to bring them back safely and comfortably. Allow for flexibility where you can for however long you deem.