Coronavirus - Steps startups can take to safeguard their teams

For many startups, including Internshala, Coronavirus is the first public health situation that we are dealing with. And as a startup founder or as an HR manager, you may feel a bit overwhelmed in deciding how to respond (I certainly did). On one hand, you want to protect your team; and on the other you want your advice and actions to be meaningful and practical. After some research and deliberation, here is what we implemented (and are implementing) at Internshala.

Steps we took/are taking at Internshala

1. Sent out a medical advisory containing tips and guidelines to all our team members (here is a copy of the same) including a recommendation on taking leave/WFH if they experience cold/cough and getting themselves tested at the earliest.

2. Distributed regular surgical masks (green/blue ones) to all the team members and have advised them to use it while commuting, especially those who commute via public transport (including cabs and autos).

3. Providing hand sanitizer to all the team members and external visitors (including the tea delivery person) as soon as they enter the office so that in case they are carrying any infection from use of public transport, lift buttons, washrooms, door handles etc. can be eliminated at the entrance itself. 

4. Checking with all the interview candidates (majority of our external visitors) to let us know if they are experiencing any cold/cough/flu like symptoms and requesting them to ask for a reschedule of their interviews. We have also issued a separate set of guidelines (copy here) to all the team members in the interview panels.

5. Made a list of common surfaces inside the office (the current list here) that will now be cleaned 4 times every day.

6. The office boy cum receptionist (our hero in this fight) who interacts with maximum number of external visitors (including courier delivery boys) has been educated about the hygiene he should maintain including washing or sanitising his hands at regular intervals. He is also responsible for implementing 2, 3, and 5 from the list above.

7. Making a daily checklist (the kind you may have seen in public/hotel washrooms listing the cleaning schedule) to ensure all of the above gets executed as planned.

8. I have set up a 15 minutes catch-up with HR (who is driving all of this at Internshala) as the first-catch up in the morning for the next 10 days for us to together review the progress and take additional steps as required.

Hope you find it useful. Do comment what steps you are taking at your office premises that we can learn from or if you have any feedback/question on the steps that we are implementing because together we can! :). 

PS - I will update this article as we learn more.