How organizations ensure a smooth transition back to the office

It is true when people say that the world will never be the same again after the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation has shown how vulnerable we are and made us reconsider our values, as well as review our habits and attitude towards different aspects of our lives, one of them being work.

In almost an instant, the world had to switch to working remotely. According to research from the Institute for Public Relations and Peppercomm, more than three-quarters of employees are now working from home. This shift has changed the way people think of their daily work routines, debunking the stereotype that you can only work effectively by being in office. At the same time, people are wanting to go back to their offices as they feel the need for social interaction, quiet workspaces, and access to office amenities.

While some countries have already started to ease self-isolation restrictions, businesses face an important question: how do we transition work back to the office in a way that is safe and comfortable for all employees? There are two essential points organizations need to consider: the human side of the question and the organizational one.

Going back to (new) normal

While the coronavirus is still a global pandemic, the question around employees’ safety must come first when considering moving back into the office. In fact, we have to find the right balance between our desire to go back to our normal daily work routines and feeling safe.

In order to better understand how an organization can support its employees during a transition back to the office, it is important to gather input. Consider asking employees about topics like their workloads, access to resources during remote work, how eager/comfortable they feel about going back to the office, and also what are their major concerns regarding this process. At Kaspersky, we have executed surveys throughout this crisis to gain feedback, giving us a better understanding about specific circumstances people are in today and assisting us in making more balanced decisions.

Another part of developing a balanced transition plan is allowing employees the ability for adjustment. Working from an office will still be valued, but what they will appreciate most is flexibility in handling this new normal. Over the past few months, people have learned how to share their time more effectively between how they work and their personal life (be it family matters or other social activities such as volunteering). Offering flexible work hours and days split between remote work and working from the office will be a key benefit for organizations to consider. Identifying flexibility as a company value and supporting this incentive long term will also allow an organization to stay competitive within the market.

As businesses customize a return to the office plan, there are several key things to take into account to ensure a smooth transition, including:

- Commuting: Do employees have a private car or do they have to use public transport to get to the office? Using public transport exposes people to more risks and if people do not feel comfortable using it and prefer to keep working from home there will be no issues with doing so. If people are willing to come to the office, businesses need to ensure flexible working hours for employees to avoid peak commuting hours.

- Family care: If schools, daycare and summer camps remain closed, employees will still need to take care of their children at home. Employees will also need to continue working remotely if they are responsible for the daily care of their parents or other family members. Offering the opportunity to remain working from home, even as some colleagues return to the office, should be considered.

- Employees’ overall state of health: Day to day health and wellness checks are crucial to the safety of every employee. If someone is not feeling well, or if they or their family members are in a high-risk group, it is important that businesses encourage them to stay at home. Employees should feel they can take sick time without jeopardizing their jobs.

It is important to understand that this transition should be as comfortable for people as possible as their wellbeing is essential if the transition is going to go smoothly.

Weighing the pros and cons

Along with the personal considerations of employees, companies need to weigh the potential risks against the benefits from a business standpoint.

To start, organizations need to determine if there is a benefit to returning to the office now or remaining in a remote working environment. If the risks outweigh the benefits, and if there’s an opportunity to continue remote working for the coming months with little impact to the business, then this would be the best option.

If it is determined that returning to the office is possible, companies will need to properly prepare and plan. Companies should consider the worst-case scenario — an employee returning to the office tests positive for COVID-19 — and develop a comprehensive plan of measures that will ensure that other employees are kept safe.

Considerations to take will depend on each country’s guidelines, and state guidelines here in the U.S., but there are a number of general regulations and measures that must be observed to ensure the safety of employees, including:

- Arrange employee temperature screenings

- Provide employees with the individual means of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as respiratory masks, sanitizers and gloves

- Ensure social distancing and separations, especially in open space office structures where there’s a lot of communal space

- Keep the total number of people present in one place, according to the established norm, by creating a suitable timetable of office visits.

We all want to achieve some semblance of a normal life as soon as possible, but in the current situation when we don’t have immunity to protect us from the virus and don’t yet have a vaccine, we need to be very careful and take care of the most valuable resource we have — our employees.

On the bright side, this pandemic has offered us an opportunity. These past few months of remote working have made us more human in that we are kinder towards each other and have a better understanding of what our team members need in order to be successful. We have become much closer as we have learned to talk openly not only about our work but also about some personal issues we face at the moment. This connection we now have will help us in the coming months as we will be going back step by step to our new reality.