March 2021 HR Monthly Update | Upon Your Return To The Office

Excerpt from the above article:  

The end is near or Not as Surging covid-19 puts an end to projected Upon Your Return To The Office dates.   Not in the impending doom way of early-2020, but it looks like we’re nearing the end of the pandemic. Employers are anxious to get people back in the office, which of course, comes with never-before-seen stumbling blocks. So, can you have your staff return to the office? Can we decrease Zoom fatigue and focus on building meaningful work relationships. surging covid-19 puts an end to projected return-to-office dates

B.C., or before COVID, about 20% of the U.S. workforce worked remotely. By December of 2020, that percentage reached 71%, and unsurprisingly, not everyone wants to stay at home. Remember when you could come into work, focus on your job for eight hours and then go home to your kids? For everyone ready to get back to fewer disruptions and trips to the break room instead of the kitchen, we have a clear checklist for employers to make their office safe upon your return to the office and welcoming and answers to your top questions.

What will it be like upon your return to the office, whenever that is as surging covid-19 puts an end to projected return-to-office dates.   Not in the impending doom way of early-2020, but it looks like we’re nearing the end of the pandemic. Employers are anxious to get people back in the office, which of course, comes with never-before-seen stumbling blocks. So, can you have your staff return to the office? Can we decrease Zoom fatigue and focus on building meaningf?

As with the shut-downs, everyone’s experience will vary. But, every office should have a plan for bringing in staff. That plan should address location, industry, and company-specific needs so all staff members can easily see how their experience might vary from what they’ve seen online or heard from friends.

Some offices are acting as though nothing happened, as if 2020 doesn’t exist. Your office might be exactly as you left it with a little more dust, and your company or state may not require an avalanche of new rules and systems.

Or, your office may go the other way. There could be endless streams of post-COVID safety information and rules on how to walk through the cubicle aisles. Again, it comes back to location, industry, and company needs.

What about all that lost time? Can we socialize with our co-workers? Upon your return to the office won’t involve everyone gathering around the water cooler or full department meetings held in the green room. Best practices for day-to-day interactions will fall to H.R. or management. Even then, the rules and guidelines will change as we all figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Reuters has created a series of mini-games where you navigate through revamped office spaces with objectives such as “avoid close contacts” and “mind the signs directing traffic flow.” These games may seem like a bit much, and that’s the point. Reuters is showing what it could be like when we return to in-person workspaces. There will be a lot of focus on health safety and sanitation. Will your office be as rigorous as these mini-games? Probably not, but the level of care and mindfulness are reasonable assumptions.

Human resources are the ones setting the stage for reopening offices. They need to evaluate new regulations, OSHA best practices, and more to build a functional, efficient, and safe work environment.