Companies are getting ready to transition teams back to the office post-pandemic. Over the past several months, many businesses adopted new ways of operating to stay in business, while minimizing COVID-19 exposure risk to employees. Now, as the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions lift, most businesses are transitioning back to full offices, stores, factories, and other facilities.
As a business manager, you will need a clear plan to get back to full operations. Therefore, you should understand your employee’s concerns, ask the right questions, and communicate the plan clearly. In this post, we will discuss key steps to transitioning teams back to the office post-pandemic.
Table of Contents
Transparency
First, be transparent with your employees during the transition back to the office. Listen to your employee’s concerns with empathy and keep your replies honest. Be as transparent as possible with the companies’ reasons and decision-making behind new policies. With the early surfacing of these concerns and consistent communication, you demonstrate your business’s value to its employees.
You can further demonstrate this value by alerting employees of upcoming changes proactively. Additionally, employees feel valued when you stay updated on the latest policy changes. Surely, transparency facilitates your employee’s cooperation with the post-pandemic transition.
Let employees choose
Additionally, let your employees choose whether to come back to the office post-pandemic. This question allows employees to be honest about their preferred work structure. According to experts, giving employees the choice to return boosts long-term morale and reduces turnover. In fact, a Chinese study demonstrates that employees should have a larger role in determining the workplace that fits their unique needs. While some workers prefer remote working, many employees want to return to the office.
At work, these employees participate in social interactions that may have been few and far between during the height of the pandemic. This way, they improve team productivity and in-person collaboration. Absolutely, giving employees this choice provides them the agency to work with their unique needs met during the post-pandemic transition.
Leverage timesheet software
Moreover, you should implement timesheet software to manage remote and in-office employees. There is a variety of advanced, high-quality time tracking software that can record hours, verify timesheets, and automate compensation calculations.
In fact, an advanced employee timesheet app allows employees to clock in and out directly from the app. This way, you have accurate records of their time worked, whether they are in the office or still working from home. You can compare these accurate records to wage costs, sales, and scheduled hours. This way, teams can run within your budgets regardless of their work location. Certainly, timesheet software provides accurate tracking of employees’ work during your transition.
Implement cleaning protocols
Furthermore, implement improved cleaning protocols for your post-pandemic office transition. Of course, cleanliness is top of mind for many individuals after the pandemic. Therefore, you should plan, communicate, and enforce a more thorough cleaning policy to transition employees back to your office. Many leading companies contract high-quality commercial cleaning businesses to clean their workspaces. You can help these services prioritize their work by highlighting which spaces are assigned to employees, and when they work.
With this prioritization, services often work with management to designate occupancy zones and track which areas have been cleaned using the software. After they clean, you can add printed cleaning schedules to several locations such as desks and spaces to demonstrate the areas that have been cleaned. This way, you improve employees’ confidence that their space is clean. Definitely, improved cleaning regimens make employees more comfortable returning to the office after the pandemic.
Keep employee well-being in mind
Lastly, you should keep your employees’ well-being in mind while transitioning back to the office. Prioritize employee’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Brainstorm ways your specific workplace can foster work and well-being throughout the day. For example, there are several apps providing on-demand access to mental health and well-being resources. Other apps deliver pulse surveys to improve employee engagement during challenging times.
Alternatively, simply ask your employees directly for ideas to restructure your workplace layout, encourage collaboration and improve overall well-being. Assuredly, keeping employee well-being top of mind demonstrates your commitment to their health during the post-pandemic transition.
There are several steps to follow when transitioning teams back to the office post-pandemic. For example, transparency ensures your employee’s cooperation with the post-pandemic transition. Second, give employees the choice so they can work with their needs met during the post-pandemic transition. Third, leverage timesheet software to provide accurate tracking of employees’ work during your transition. Next, improve cleaning regimens to make employees more comfortable returning to the office after the pandemic.
Finally, keep employee well-being top of mind to demonstrate your commitment to their health during the post-pandemic transition. Using these steps, you can facilitate a rapid, effective post-pandemic return to the office.
