As the UK lockdown restrictions are lifted or eased and many businesses welcome their employees back to the workplace, there is a real need for employers to provide their workforce with clarity on how that return will happen and what the ‘new normal’ will look like. Here our partners, JobLookUp, share their thoughts on defining the new normal.
The Great Resignation trend has made it clear that in the current employees’ market, where mass job availability is encouraging career mobility, it has never been more important to build existing employee engagement.
Employees may have been:
- working from home
- furloughed
- operating on-site but under lockdown restrictions
or have experienced a combination of these over the last few months. They may be split in their experience of lockdown, with certain departments still operational while others were unable to continue for the time being.
Every employee, however, will appreciate and benefit from a clear picture of what a return to the workplace will look like. So where should employers start?
Planning a return-to-work strategy
Considering the entire process of returning a workforce to the office or shop-floor before discussions with employees begin is the best way to ensure a successful outcome. The first step in planning a return-to-work strategy is to check what regulations and recommendations are in place:
- health and safety regulations and best practice
- government guidelines
- CIPD best practice
- industry related regulations and guidelines
- employment legislation
Employers have a statutory duty of care to ensure the health and safety of their employees, so all of the above should be adhered to and/or considered.
To ensure that a return to work can be done safely, it will be necessary to carry out risk assessments, for instance, checking the maximum number of people that can safely work in an area in consideration of COVID-19 contact. The assessments may point to changes that must be made before employees return, and how the business can adapt to new ways of working.
If it doesn’t already exist, a COVID-19 procedure should be written up to cover topics such as testing, proof of vaccination, unvaccinated employees, and what happens in the case of an employee testing positive for COVID-19. The procedure should be made available to all members of staff.
Other considerations might include:
- Will the return to work be phased, with certain employees returning before others?
- Will working patterns also be phased, moving from remote to hybrid to an eventual full working week in the office?
- What changes must be made to the workplace before employees can return?
- Where it is necessary to reduce the number of staff in an area at any one time, will hybrid working be the answer or a re-arrangement of the premises? Will it affect working processes? Is it necessary to expand the premises?
- Before the return to work, is it necessary to carry out re-inductions for employees, especially those who began with the company during 2020 or 2021? A tour of the worksite could be useful for employees who have only worked remotely.
A plan should be drawn up of what must be done before, during, and after the return, with reasonable deadlines, and the members of staff responsible for each task.
Open communications with the workforce
Clear communication is key to welcoming employees back. Some will be keen to return to the workplace, while others will feel more anxious. This mixed reaction calls for communication on three levels – company-wide, team, and individual.
Company-wide communications are an excellent way to promote company culture and talk about the business’s future, specifically the part that employees will play in that future. This is an opportunity to bring all levels of staff together and build an enthusiasm for a return to work.
Team communications may have continued throughout the lockdown, but they can be an effective way to re-unite the team and ask them to contribute ideas on how they see their section of the business operating in the ‘new normal’.
Individual communications are ideal for one-to-one discussions and provision of details pertinent only to that employee, such as their return-to-work date.
What about the mode of communication? The method that comes most readily to mind is email, but video conferencing through tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Webex can be useful too.
What information should be communicated to employees?
- The date when the workplace opens and where different, the date the employee will return.
- How employees are being safeguarded against COVID-19 and access to the related procedures manual.
- What is expected from employees, such as mask-wearing and testing.
- Work patterns and methods, for instance, which days of the week/shifts, whether in the office or remote, or hybrid working.
- Any changes to the workplace.
- Altered working conditions and where relevant, updated employment contracts.
- Flexible working availability.
- Who to contact to discuss the above.
Employers should continue to check-in with their employees after the return to work too. This continual communication not only provides an opportunity for employees to voice their concerns, but also allows the employer a greater insight into how their workforce are coping with the ‘new normal’.
Employee well-being
Without employees, a business can’t operate; protecting employee well-being is therefore paramount. Employers may wish to consider how a return to work can be made as stress-free as possible for their workforce.
Measuring levels of anxiety
The easiest way to find out how employees are feeling about getting back to the office is to ask them. Staff surveys may help but they can’t replace the value of personal interaction. Employers should provide plenty of opportunities for their employees to discuss the return to work and express any concerns they may have. Ideally, this will be a discussion between employees and their line managers.
Supporting employees who started during the pandemic
For employees who began with the company during 2020 or 2021, this may be their first chance to work onsite. Alternatively, they may have spent only a small proportion of their employment in the office and the remainder working remotely or on furlough.
It may be necessary to carry out a new period of induction, for instance, introducing them to the business and explaining how their role fits into the organisation, and take them on a tour of the workplace.
Treating employees as individuals
It should never be assumed that an entire workforce has the same attitude to a return to work. Some may be more anxious than others. Many may struggle to adjust to not only a return to the office, but also a return to childcare and the related cost.
For instance, recent research has shown that younger workers are generally keen to work from the office, whereas their older colleagues are more likely to prefer flexible working, for instance, hybrid or remote.
Openness to flexible working requests
2020 and 2021 have provided plenty of evidence as to which jobs, industries, and organisations are a good match for flexible working. Employees have a legal right to request flexible working from their employer and many will have a case for carrying out their job remotely or on a hybrid basis, having done just that for several months.
Employers should be open to requests for flexible working and consider how they might change company working procedures to embrace remote working.
Final thoughts
Welcoming employees back after the lockdown provides a chance for employers to reconnect with them, build engagement, and take employee ideas and concerns on-board as the business adapts to the new normal. Planning and communication are key to turning this chance into an opportunity, rather than a chore.
Author biography:
Fi Phillips, Freelance Copywriter working with JobLookup. Fi specialises in blog posts and web articles about the world of work and business. She is especially interested in how the pandemic has changed our attitudes to work-life balance and career development.
