Ensuring Workplace Safety and Efficiency in a Post-Pandemic World

The role of Facility Managers (FMs) in ensuring workplace safety and efficiency has come into sharp focus and prominence in the new normal that prevails worldwide. What was hitherto seen as a support role is now a critical part of every organization’s operational requirements. As a result, it has become a norm to have the FM function present in most CxO meetings.

How People of Different Age Groups Were Affected by WFH

A recent Nasscom survey reveals that those below 25 or above 40 are eager to get back to work. The reason for such results is not far to seek. Most offices today are far more comfortable for youngsters than the accommodations where they stay. Therefore, they attend office regularly, work hard, and party hard. On the other hand, those above 40 feel obliged to ensure the quality of work delivered to customers.

That leaves us with those aged between 25-40 yrs, who are happy to work from home. They are most likely married and, in most cases, have obligations towards parents and in-laws and might also have kids. The time saved in commuting and the ability to multitask during a normal working day has made it easier for them to balance their personal and official needs. A few more dynamic individuals are doing two jobs in parallel, making hay while the sun shines, at the cost of both the employer and the customer who pays for the billable hours.

Balancing Workplace Safety and Efficiency

During the past couple of years, it has been well documented how working from home lowers employees’ efficiency, affecting the overall project. Meanwhile, with employees returning to work, those in responsible positions are obliged to manage workplace safety.

As more and more employees?return to the office?in a phased manner, ensuring workplace safety has also become a key deliverable so that a delicate balance is maintained between the business needs and employees’ welfare. The entire transition could be delayed by several weeks if not handled properly.

How to Ensure Workplace Safety and Efficiency?

Workplace safety and efficiency need to be maintained simultaneously for a business to prosper. Here are a few ways by which you can maintain both together.

• Reconfigure workplace for social distancing: Very few companies have the luxury of reconfiguring workplaces. So, multiple options are being discussed, like blocking alternate seats by asking people to come on different days or shifts, putting up temporary partitions, etc. This method is in the must-do category of things that can help balance safety and efficiency.
• Update cleaning and sanitizing protocols: This method is probably the easiest to implement, redefining SOPs for maintenance staff, mostly third-party vendors. As a result, companies can easily and seamlessly propose new methods and periodicity of cleaning their workplaces, thus ensuring the safety of employees.
• Enhance building security with visitor management: Limiting who can visit the office, be it a vendor, customer, or any other person, is another way to ensure workplace safety today. Moreover, many companies have realized that several face-to-face meetings were not warranted, thereby saving the time and money of all parties involved.
• Develop contact tracing protocols: Billions were spent around the world trying to do contact tracing. Facility Managers would be well-advised not to waste time and money, isolate those who show any symptoms and keep following COVID safety?protocols.

Workplace Safety with QuickFMS Facilities Management Software

In short, efficiency has surely been affected by WFH practices in the past two years. The time has come to ensure employees’ safety and bring forth new ideas to return to work at the earliest.

It has been observed that companies implementing?Facilities Management Software?before the pandemic were able to implement most of the measures mentioned above with ease. It was possible because they had all floor plans, assets, lease agreements, data of employees, etc., well-integrated to make their workplaces safer.

You can do the same by tweaking your work processes while cutting short the implementation time of these risk mitigation measures. At?QuickFMS, our cloud-based facilities management software allows you to restructure, organize and run your workspaces at multiple locations efficiently. We can help you achieve optimum efficiency while maintaining workplace safety at all times.?Schedule a free, personalized demo?of our product modules today!

Article Originally Published on QuickFMS: https://www.quickfms.com/blog/ensuring-workplace-safety-efficiency-post-pandemic