For nearly a year, the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on people’s lives. However, the world is now attempting to return to normalcy, and people are beginning to return to their offices as vaccinations and other COVID 19 testing centers become accessible. Companies are beginning to open their doors and allow some on-site activity. If you run a business that has decided to bring workers back into the office after a while, here are some helpful hints for returning to work following covid.
Be Compassionate
Business owners and administrators should endeavor to bring everyone back to work as soon as possible. This, however, should be done with compassion and understanding. Some people will gladly comply with a request to return to the workplace after COVID. Others may still be concerned about their health and wellbeing.
Businesses must acknowledge those who may still have misgivings. Perhaps they might make an offer to certain workers to continue working from home until the national recovery seems a bit more optimistic. When companies must have their employees in physical places, it’s still a delicate position. Not everyone will be prepared to return to their office responsibilities immediately, even if you as an employer are ready to have them back.
Establish Procedures
Business owners should also develop procedures and policies for employees who choose to return to the physical office or workplace after being at home due to COVID restrictions. The best way to do this is to write it down so there is no confusion or ambiguity and create a new policy that you have your employees read and sign to say they acknowledge it and will abide by the rules you’ve set out. This will help you keep your workplace safe, and it will also show your employees that you’ve given this a lot of thought and are taking care of their wellbeing too. That should inspire confidence.
Ideas to include within the new policy will depend on what you feel is right, but some examples are that company owners may want their employees to continue wearing masks and using hand sanitizer on a regular basis. They may want employees to engage in social distancing. It would be beneficial to document these procedures and distribute them to all available personnel to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Keep Lines of Communication Open
Keeping all of your clients and employees up to date on what’s going on with covid in general and in relation to your business specifically is a great way to get back into the swing of things. You can offer everyone who needs it access to communication channels via which they can ask questions, acquire new information, and express their thoughts. This last idea can be particularly useful since it might give you some ideas on how to manage things in the right way.
This information is best placed on your company’s website for your employees. If you want to take things a step further, you can send emails to your employees and customers. Staying proactive during this difficult period is the only way to keep thriving.
