The recent emergence of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 has some employers questioning whether they should go forward with plans to bring workers back to the office in early 2022. Some companies may never go back to full-time in-person collaboration. For those employers that plan to bring workers back next month, it’s important to be prepared. Read on to find some advice from covid resource centers about how to move forward.
Ensure Compliance With Health and Sanitation Standards
Ensuring that the company’s workers stay healthy should always be a top priority, but it’s even more important now than ever. Before opening the office back up, check out OSHA’s Guidance on Returning to Work. The publication offers information not just about federal guidelines for protecting employees from infectious diseases but also answers to frequently asked questions and more. A firm such as, Sidley Austin maintains a resource center with plenty of advice for business owners.
Encourage a Culture of Compliance With COVID Guidance
Prioritizing worker health is about more than just ensuring legal compliance with federal and local regulations. It’s also about fostering a culture of respect for others and compliance with all relevant regulations and recommendations. Current guidance on getting a COVID-19 booster vaccination indicates that all adults, and even some teenagers, are eligible to receive booster shots.
Help Employees Adapt
Many workers are looking forward to returning to the office, but according to realtimecampaign.com, just as many are suffering from back-to-office jitters. Instead of waiting to discover this problem until all of the company’s employees are back, managers should go out of the way to help employees adapt. In many cases, that means returning everyone to their normal in-person work schedules slowly. It’s also important to listen to returning workers’ concerns and make sure that they are addressed.
Rebuild Employee Engagement
Today’s white-collar workforce was forced to adapt quickly to dramatically different work environments, often sharing space with children attending virtual school and other family members with their own remote commitments. As a result, a lot of workers experienced what experts are now terming “COVID fatigue,” which made it difficult to maintain a normal level of engagement with coworkers. Now that everyone is planning to return to the office, it’s time for managers to find ways to rebuild employee engagement. Planning social events such as happy hours, birthday celebrations, or even daily coffee breaks can help to foster engagement by bringing employees back together in a low-stress environment.
Prepare for the New Normal
It can feel to both employees and their employers like COVID has changed everything. While there are some parts of pre-COVID life that may be hard to return to, finding a balance is essential to moving forward for businesses in all industries. Employers should expect returning workers to experience elevated stress and unanticipated struggles as they return to work, given how long many white-collar employees have been working remotely. They should be prepared to help workers adapt to the new normal in the office.
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