The New Normal: How to prepare for the post-pandemic world of work
Depending on where you live, you may have been given the green light to open your business again. After months of lockdown, you are probably eager to swing open the doors and welcome back your staff and customers. Many of you are excited to return to business as usual, but what exactly is business as usual in the post-pandemic world? The Ontario Government has released a roadmap to reopening the province including a phased approach to lifting restrictions over the coming months.
While the government will set guidelines to define the new normal, as an employer, there is so much more to consider. Before you welcome back your employees, here are some areas of focus to help you prepare for the post-pandemic workplace:
Office Space: Prior to the pandemic, companies made investments in redesigning their offices into modern, low walled cubicles, promoting open concept and collaborative workspaces. All of that now needs to be reconsidered to be aligned with responsible re-opening practices. Companies will need to create separation between employees for physical distancing and potentially make investments to ensure their staff feel safe being in the workplace. Some ideas to consider are taller cubicle walls, seating staff in every other workstation, and installing plexiglass between employees and customers.
Communal Spaces: Most companies have at least one form of communal space for staff to gather. For those with a cafeteria or lunchroom, companies need to think through how these spaces can allow for physical distancing. Perhaps limit the number of people who can sit together in the lunchroom, remove every other lunch table so there is safe distance between staff, or encourage people to eat lunch at their own workspace. If your workplace provides meals to staff, you may want to think about how you will package and distribute food. There’s a good chance that you may move away from buffet style to boxed lunch options for purchase. For those that offer free sacks, communal candy jars may also be a thing of the past.
Another big change we will see are the use of meeting and conference rooms. Once a place to gather, brainstorm, and host meetings, these rooms might remain empty in the immediate future. Meetings will likely continue to be hosted virtually even for those in the office to prevent gatherings in confined spaces. Perhaps re-purpose the meeting rooms into additional office space ensuring you’re able to adhere to physical distancing rules. And don’t forget about restrooms. Some companies are thinking about transforming the walls of bathroom stalls from floor to ceiling, and if they don’t already have them in place, introducing automatic faucets, soap pumps and paper towel dispensers.
Work From Home Lives On: Being responsible is one of the driving principles behind the Reopening our Province Framework. This means employers will need to follow set guidelines including health and safety precautions while continuing to monitor progress to ensure a safe workplace. This will take time and in the interim, working from home will continue in some way for most workplaces. Even when doors open again, employers need to build in a gradual return to work plan for their employees, staggering staff back in phases and gradually increasing numbers as it is deemed safe to do so. One thing that employers can do is allow full-time work from home for those whose jobs easily lend them to do so. Another idea is to permanently introduce rotating shifts so only 50% of employees are in the office at once. This allows staff to work from home the other 50% of the time.
Introducing these new measures might mean everyone requires a laptop, cellphone, and video and instant messaging apps like Zoom and Slack. In order to support your staff in effectively being able to work remotely and even to encourage physical distancing while in the office, offering the right tools can help them adjust and keep productivity levels high. While it may be a financial investment, working remotely has its pros: for companies who feared outgrowing their current space, it may no longer be a concern, and removing the commuting barrier actually opens up the talent pool to those who may not have considered working for your company given its physical location.
Testing: Many businesses will need to decide what they plan to do about COVID-19 checks. Some may choose to conduct temperature checks for every employee upon entry to work, others may ask staff if they are exhibiting any symptoms or if any of their family members are ill. If you decide to introduce some form of employee screening, you will need to think through the type of testing required, why it is relevant for your staff given the type of work they do, the people they will be interacting with, and the environment they work in.
Health and Safety Equipment: Businesses will need to invest in PPE for their staff to ensure safety. Supplies like masks, gloves and even face shields may be required depending on the type of business you operate. Don’t forget about other supplies like hand sanitizer stations, anti-bacterial wipes, and increasing cleaning services in the workplace. Be sure to communicate these changes to staff so they know you are taking action to ensure their health and safety is a top priority.
New policies: Now is a good time to update or develop new policies to support many of the changes.
Here is a list to consider:
Work from home policy
IT equipment policy
Appropriate use of internet and company resources
Leaves of absence policy
Reimbursement policy (e.g. home office equipment, travel related expenses)
Testing and employee health screening, if introduced, also requires a policy to support the practice and to clarify who it applies to, why it is being introduced, and what employers will do with the results. You need to balance the confidentiality of staff as this is medically related and be able to justify the circumstances under which you would send someone home from work.
It might also be worthwhile to clarify how your sick days work. Will companies be offering additional sick time if staff need to be off work to care for their family members? What happens if someone in their household has tested positive and they need to remain home under quarantine as a precaution? All of this needs to be taken into consideration and introduced as new policies or company practices to both protect your organization and to ensure transparency with your staff.
Workforce Planning: Salary cuts, layoffs, recalling layoffs, and reorganizing work. Things continue to change daily and you need to be prepared to resume operations when it is time to open. Take the time now to start planning for the next phase of your business so that when the time comes, you will be ready to operate in the new normal.
Here are some things you will need to have ready:
Determine which positions, levels, and headcount you’ll need in the short term and long term, then plan accordingly. Develop your strategy in stages so that you can have a plan for each stage. Determine if you’ll need to make salary cuts and if so, at what level, how long the salary cuts will be in effect, and provide documentation of the changes. Avoid vague communication with staff especially as it relates to their terms and agreement to avoid potential legal disputes.
Determine if there will be additional layoffs. Will they be temporary or permanent? If you’re considering permanent layoffs (terminations) then seek legal advice on severance and termination packages. Consider your strategy when offering termination packages as it may save you time and money, not to mention reputation!
Have you previously laid off workers and you’re in a position to recall them to return to work? Review the timelines and documentation provided to these staff (lay-off letters, original offer letters, etc) and plan accordingly. We encourage you to provide updated contractual letters to returning staff to capture any changes in the terms and conditions of the employment contract including any new policies/provisions.
Reorganizing work: You may have to reorganize job responsibilities as part of your overall workforce planning. You may have laid off a number of positions and now you have to reassign and redistribute job duties to current staff. Review the new responsibilities and ensure fair employment practices if you’re adding additional work to existing staff. Determine if the additional job duties are temporary and for how long. Consider providing additional compensation (lump sum or hourly increase) while staff take on new responsibilities.
Learning & Development: Now is a great time to provide learning and development opportunities for staff online. Consider how to offer these opportunities. There are a wealth of resources available that will allow trainers to get creative. Offer live video training, take polls, create breakout sessions, offer Q&A opportunities - all of which are possible with great video conferencing apps like Zoom and GoToWebinar. Remember to limit the number of people per session to keep the training intimate and to ensure the app can support the volume of attendees.
Another thing to consider is the type of content you will offer. This is a great opportunity to introduce online sessions on topics like how to manage your time when working from home, diversity and inclusion and what it means in the new normal, or build relationships with customers with limited physical interaction. Take the time to develop new and relevant tools to support your people in being successful in this new normal.
The type of business you operate will determine the challenges and adjustments you will need to introduce. While no one is certain what the long lasting impacts will be, we do know that COVID-19 has changed the world of work for so many of us.
Do you need help preparing your business for the post-pandemic world of work? We can help! Get in touch via hello@mondaymorning.ca
About us: At Monday Morning, we are a team of HR consultants in the Toronto area supporting businesses with their HR needs. With over 15 years of experience, we provide expert HR advice, build people and culture programs for some of the best workplaces, and develop customized solutions to meet your needs. We take the worry out of HR so you can focus on your business
