Beyond sanitiser and spacing

How Human Resources, IT, and Ops teams can return to work with resilience

Typically, when a business is hit with a crisis, you can look up what to do in the contingency plan. And while nothing is ever textbook, events like floods, fires, earthquakes and terror attacks are sadly nothing new.

But COVID-19? It’s a different beast. An unpredictable, ever-changing beast that requires precise planning and careful consideration to deal with its consequences and regain control.

The silver lining is that all businesses are in the same boat. From SMEs to major corporations, HR, IT and Ops professionals face similar challenges and need to respond quickly and confidently.

Reassure your people, realign your strategy

Before you start bringing staff back into the office, you need a plan. One that covers people, places and processes. That way, you can feel sure that every element of the business is working towards a stronger, safer workplace for all. Once everything is aligned and the workforce are on the same page, they can concentrate on being productive, rather than safety.

The main obstacles most companies face are:

1. Keeping track of health and safety essentials

Whether your company employs 5 or 50,000 people, you’re going to be using more health and safety essentials. From hand sanitiser to masks and gloves, making sure you keep stock of them and can order whenever you need is straightforward with the right resources.

2. Seeing the bigger picture of employee productivity

How many people are working from home? Are they able to keep on top of their workload? Who thinks they might be infected? Unpredictability breeds uncertainty, so keeping track of your employees is also a key driver in making sure your business runs smoothly and successfully. Seeing everything and everyone at a glance makes life easier and more efficient.

3. Refitting or resetting the office in line with Government guidelines

From spacing desks for social distancing to avoiding handshakes, you’ll need to rethink a lot of office elements and behaviours. Having a clear, defined vision for the future will help ease everyone back in and encourage the focus.

4. Boosting morale and reassuring staff

As you refit your workspace, don’t forget to reassure your people. When your employees feel valued and protected, their work ethic improves and team morale is enhanced. Employees are likely to feel worried about job security too, so making sure everyone is clearly informed and striving towards the same goal, with resources to support every department, is key.

5. Empowering leaders so they can deliver

As business leaders, your confidence and optimism can motivate and inspire people to feel at ease and be more efficient. But first, you need to feel in control. 

How can Hitachi Solutions help?

We’ve teamed up with Microsoft to deliver an innovative suite of apps that help you monitor, manage and make work life easier. The apps run on the Power Platform and aim to provide process and structure to enable a smooth return to the workplace.

Fully customisable, the integrated apps can be tailored to your unique business needs. The apps also make it easier for the three vital departments of businesses to run smoothly and efficiently, adapting to erratic changes. The HR, IT and Ops departments can each benefit from the tools, which deliver transparency and peace of mind. And it’s quick and easy to set up – so you can get back to business fast.  

For more information on Hitachi Solutions can help you reassure your people and give you control over your post-COVID-19 workplaces, simply visit https://www.hitachi-solutions.co.uk/return-to-the-workplace