After lifting COVID-19 restrictions, several industries and businesses have been able to reopen successfully. However, many employees are still apprehensive about returning to work, especially with the recent uptick in COVID-19 infections showing the coronavirus still presents a danger. As a result, employers have the challenge of managing people in the workplace while protecting their employees’ health and safety. Here are our top tips for encouraging people to return to the office without fear and to help organisations with the new normal:

1. Make a thorough return-to-work plan

A comprehensive strategy for employees returning to the office is advantageous in various ways. With one in place, you can protect your employees more thoroughly and effectively from the health risks associated with COVID-19. It can also protect your company from potential liabilities. Finally, a thorough return-to-work plan reassures employees that your company prioritises their health and safety. It can help alleviate some of their immediate concerns about returning to the office.

Safe Work Australia remains an invaluable resource for employers navigating the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic. On their official website, you can find a helpful checklist to assist you in developing an effective return-to-work strategy.

2. Make New Office Rules

The coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally altered how people interact with one another and with the environment. Given this, instituting a few new office rules can help ease employees’ minds, mainly when contracting the virus from interacting with co-workers. With proper guidance and direction, your employees can better follow pandemic best practices such as social distancing, adequate handwashing, and sanitising, and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces, tools, and objects.

Workplace rules that you could include when there is a new coronavirus wave or local outbreak are a mandatory temperature check at the door and a no-mask-no-entry policy. Employees may also be required to stay at home if they are ill. You can remind your employees about the new guidelines by posting them in common areas and other strategic locations.

3. Improve Workplace Sanitation and Cleanliness

All workers have the right to a healthy and safe working environment, according to Safe Work Australia’s national COVID-19 safe workplace principles. They also emphasise that it is the responsibility of employers to keep their respective workplaces clean so that their employees, and other visitors, are not exposed to the virus.

It is the employer’s duty to implement proper cleaning and disinfecting procedures in the office. It includes regular daily cleaning at least once per day, cleaning between shift changes if employees rotate on shifting schedules and adhering to other workplace cleanliness and sanitation recommendations.

Furthermore, it would help if you gave your employees the tools, they need to practise good workplace hygiene. For example, you could stock restrooms with antibacterial hand soap or set up hand sanitising stations throughout the workplace. Another brilliant idea is to provide free masks and disinfectant wipes for employees to use in public areas.

4. Redesign the Area

Both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly advise social isolation as a preventative measure against contracting or spreading COVID-19. When reopening offices fully, employers should make the necessary arrangements to ensure that workers are always at least one metre apart. It may imply putting employees on staggered shifts for smaller offices to avoid overcrowding.

Another way to encourage employees to return to work is to eliminate the open-office plan. Giving employees designated private work areas, for example, can reduce unnecessary physical contact with co-workers. Most workers who return to the office after working from home may appreciate having their room or cubicle after sharing the same space for so long with family members or roommates.

5. Introduce Attractive Benefits

Offering meaningful incentives can help persuade people to return to work. Employers can look at some common challenges their employees have encountered while working from home, and present new solutions for any issues they had in the workplace. For example, a lack of ergonomic furniture at home is one of the most common issues that “work from home” (WFH) employees face. So if employers can provide ergonomic office chairs, standing desks, and laptop stands for employees to use in the office, it would make working in the office more appealing. You can also provide the following perks:

  • Free coffee or a coffee machine.
  • Free snacks in the pantry.
  • An upgraded designated rest area where employees can take a break from work.

The best way to entice employees to return to work is to assure them that their health and safety are your company’s top priority. Given that the situation is still evolving, employers should maintain regular communication with employees and stay up to date on the latest developments so that they can respond quickly and appropriately to any changes.

Why not reach out to the experts here at Priority Management? We’re an organisation that boasts an effective customer service training programme, among other courses beneficial to the improvement and progress of organisations that operate in all sorts of industries and niches. Contact us today and let us know how we can assist you.