Hybrid? In-person? Remote? Where are your employees working? It’s never been more critical for organizations to plan a safe return to office by putting into place processes that support employees and help protect the business during times of uncertainty. As Delta and other variations of the COVID-19 virus arise, businesses are struggling to determine what is the right return-to-office plan for their employees.
Workforce management solutions help to lay the solid foundation organizations need to communicate with transparency and build trust with your people, connect employees with their work and local communities, and design and adapt flexible business strategies to ensure long-term success.
Companies across all industries have different return to office plans based on their geographic location, operational requirements, and what is working for their organization. However, many industries are learning to adapt and take on new approaches to being an effective organization, regardless of what they were doing prior to the pandemic.
- Organizations in the Logistics & Distribution industry never worked from home – in fact, their workload has increased dramatically since the beginning of the pandemic. While there is no returning to work for them because they never left, they now must manage being onsite in full capacity while aiming to keep employees healthy and safe.
- Other industries, such as Financial Service organizations, have adapted to more of a hybrid work model with some employees working in the office and others working at home. Keeping track of where everyone is working from on which day of the week while ensuring proper safety precautions are being taken is no easy task.
- We’ve even seen some Professional Services companies move to a fully remote situation, where employees will connect mostly virtually. While this is a big adjustment for most organizations that move out of their office entirely and adapt to their new operations, it can improve efficiency in some ways and prevent COVID-19 from affecting their employees or customers directly through the business.
Whichever arrangement your organization has elected to follow, certain criteria must be considered to manage your employees properly. Workforce technology can help make these processes smoother:
- Utilizing Workforce Management tools allow you to locate your salaried and hourly employees, regardless of the time or place. Additionally, employees are able to attest to their current health status, providing an added level of health security as employees enter the office (and encouraging them to stay home if they do not meet the health expectations).
- Work Area Scheduling tool gives employees the ability to reserve workspaces within the office. When a space is vacated, this tool identifies that the space is ready for cleaning, preventing the spread of illnesses. This also helps to ensure the office space is being used effectively, answering questions such as: how many desks need to be in the office? Do more people come in on certain days of the week, resulting in a lack of space? Are employees social distancing properly? Should we move to a smaller (or larger) office space to account for the new number of employees regularly in the office?
- For a multitude of reasons, many people moved during the pandemic. Although not everyone is in the office anymore, it is important to keep track of employee information for legal and safety purposes. Reporting, Document Storage and Workflows tools assists in identifying employees’ permanent residences, regardless of if they have informed you of changes or not.
It seems like the COVID-19 pandemic is changing daily – especially with the rise of new variants – which is causing some companies to alter their return to office plans. Despite the unknown, employees of your organization will likely feel more at ease knowing there is a plan in place, even if it is not set in stone. With that being said, we know this pandemic won’t last forever, so the sooner you are prepared to bring your employees back to the office, the better.
