The Post Covid Workplace !

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented new and incredible challenges for millions of workers around the globe. In just a matter of weeks, the workforce at large has quickly and strategically navigated the sudden shift to remote working, while maintaining the symbiotic relationship between business continuity and employee well-being. The pandemic has upended everything, including people’s trust in the places and spaces where we work.

The reinvented office must be designed with an even deeper commitment to the wellbeing of people, recognising that their physical, cognitive and emotional states are inherently linked to their safety, when we return to our physical workplaces, we need to rethink how we introduce interfaces that aren’t just frictionless, but also touchless. Employee safety and wellbeing must be paramount, people need to be safe and feel safe.

The question, then, is how do we restore a sense of safety to the post-pandemic workplace?

Organisations need to take action to ensure that: 

• Physically: Measures should be taken in the workplace to mitigate risk of exposure to pathogens and protect the health of your greatest assets – your people.
• Mentally: Life during COVID has placed people under new pressures and exposed new anxieties which have a negative effect on overall wellbeing. Reassure teams, communicating transparently and openly about the measures you are putting in place to protect them as they work.
• Emotionally: Everyone needs to feel safe at work. They need to be confident that their employers have done everything possible to create a safe environment — especially for those who may be at higher risk.

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. Christopher Reeve

While many organisations prepared for employee safety in other ways, the workplace was not designed to mitigate the spread of disease. Companies around the world were not prepared to think about the workplace as an environment that needs to adapt quickly to health risks that can rise unexpectedly. One thing that’s clear from this pandemic is that there won’t be a flip of a switch that will suddenly fill office buildings, airports and arenas with people. Going forward, it's certain that the new normal will be a workplace that prioritizes safety and wellness.

The world will not be the same again !

Life is beautiful.

Global Goodwill Ambassador (India)