Creating a Plan to Keep You, Your Employees, and Your Company Safe
Recent organizational data demonstrates that COVID-19 has changed the way our world fundamentally operates— at least for the foreseeable future. As such, many employees will be returning to their regular work schedules as states implement plans to reopen cities and townships.
For many, returning to the familiar buzz of the workplace will present a healthy reconnection after the disruption of remote working and social isolation. However, the norms of working in an office have been altered. When starting reintroduction into office life business leaders must handle the situation with care. With a proper plan in place, you will reduce the risk of disorganization while improving transition efficiencies
As you begin to reintegrate, you need a plan that maintains safety, manages resources, and rebuilds morale. Below, we have shared tips to create a smooth and successful transition.
Manage Employee Numbers
Even though plans to reopen are in motion, some regulations will remain in place: including the number of people allowed in gatherings.
You will need to limit large volumes of employees returning to a shared workplace. Not only are there governmental requirements limiting it, but a large group of people represents a significant risk for the spreading and contracting of viruses. In order to protect the health of your employees, you must manage the number of employees in the office.
To do this, you need to create a reintroduction plan that effectively reopens the office while reducing risk for more susceptible employees. By taking a step back to account for employees who will benefit the most from working in the office, you will be able to develop a rotating schedule where groups of employees work in the office a few days a week. In this case, risking the health of your employees will risk more absence from illness.
Create Strict Sanitization Schedules
Like public social gathering regulations, requiring six feet distance and providing masks for employees will increase workplace confidence.
Another way to reduce employee health risk is to maintain a rigorous cleaning schedule for facilities and continue hygiene practices. Keep a sanitization schedule for your office to be cleaned every night, focusing on high traffic surface areas such as door handles and computers is paramount to keep prime areas disinfected. You may also consider offering hygiene supplies such as hand sanitizer or wet wipes to help limit the spread of diseases.
Maintain Regular Communication
Sharing your plan to transition from the home office to your company office with your team is a necessary step to make this adjustment smooth and efficient. Many companies have utilized remote communication systems to navigate through the stay-at-home order. As you may have experienced, this new style of communication has recently become a necessity, and it is here to stay.
Having a finger on the pulse of your business and how your employees are feeling is key, even more so in today’s climate. Maintaining a regular frequency of communications is vital and it provides reassurance to employees who will naturally have questions about the future of the business and their roles.
With some of your workforce remaining remote, communication will still be extremely important. Utilizing a cloud-based ERP system can help you organize and centrally manage all your departments- allowing employees to easily share and gain information related to projects. Plus, most cloud-based ERP systems are easily accessible from wherever an employee may be working.
Wrap Up
As we continue learning how to live and work in a world that is evolving as COVID-19 does, the prospect of returning to a normal workspace can be exciting. However, there are still many obstacles to navigate to have a smooth transition back into the office.
Keep communication open with employees before, during, and after the transition to make sure everyone is comfortable and still working as expected. Keep in mind that while conducting business as normal that you continue to abide by government regulations such as social distancing and limits on gatherings. As long as you have a strong work culture and keep morale high, your company will remain efficient and ease your workplace transition.
As you continue to navigate this new world, Datix is here to support you. We know that you can’t always predict the issues you encounter, but our consultants are always on-hand to provide support and answer your questions. When you choose Datix for your cloud-based ERP system implementation, we will work with you before, during, and after your implementation process to ensure that all questions are answered, and your new software works as intended. Contact us today to see how cloud-based ERP can help your business during this transition and after.
