Resetting the workspace post-covid19

After all the covid19 restrictions are lifted, it is important that businesses look at strategic cost-cutting to survive.

One way of doing that, as well as keeping employees safe, is to continue physical distancing measures at the office, particularly working remotely and flexible work arrangements.

Akeem Branford, managing director of Branford HR Solutions, suggested letting staff who can do so work from home. He stressed that working from home is not time off. Only those who need to be in the office should do so, which would reduce the amount of space companies need. They could then rent smaller and, therefore, cheaper spaces.

Another option, he said, was flexible working. Since some people could get their daily workload done in a few hours, they could be allowed to go home instead of sitting in the office for hours doing nothing. Staff could go to work at different times of the day to reduce the number of people in the office.

Branford said employers could also structure the work differently. Some workers can be given projects and a time-frame in which to complete them.

“You hired them, so you must be able to trust them to do the work. Why hire someone and then you have to micro-manage them? It’s integral to make sure your HR processes are in line with what you are doing, so your recruitment strategy must be robust enough to make sure when you hire someone, you don’t have to watch over their shoulders. Whether they do it from home, Maracas beach, or Mt St Benedict, it will get done because you hired the right person for the job.”

But, he said, there continued to be a lack of trust and communication between companies and employees.

The human resources expert contends that as long as employers do not trust their staff to get the work done, working from home and flexitime would not be effective.

He said these measures will also reduce the company’s leave bill. If an employee had an illness that was not severe, they should be allowed to do some work from home. He said even if that person had a mild cold, they could be a risk to other staff members, who may then need to take sick leave.

“Of course, if I feel sick and I don’t go to work, the company has to pay me for an unproductive day. The company has to look at productivity, cost, and make sure there is some sort of alignment.”

Adjusting to covid19 measures

Branford said employees self-isolating because of suspected covid19 exposure should not be made to take no-pay leave. In fact, he called that action draconian. Instead, he said if the company could not afford to give the employee full pay, it should at least pay half or assist in some other way.

He noted that Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram suggested people with viral illnesses stay at home for about ten days while they are contagious.

Branford said if sick leave is exhausted, the company’s human resource department should evaluate each case and try to work with the employee on the basis of what the company could afford. He said it was important to remember that employees were real people with lives outside the workplace, and so employers should be compassionate.

He added that if the company did not trust the employee, it could have the employee medically evaluated.

“Most companies have a company doctor. If you don’t trust your workers, foot the bill, send the person to the company doctor and let that doctor generate a report to validate whether or not the person is actually ill.”

Besides staying at home when ill, he said it was important for each worker to be responsible for the sanitisation of their own work stations.

“Everybody has to take personal responsibility. Going forward there will be an increased need for people to be very careful about viral illnesses, contagious diseases, and anything that can be transmitted from person to person easily.”

He said while companies will need to ensure basic items such as soap, hand sanitisers at entrances and exits, and paper towels are available to staff, disinfecting supplies may be a different story.

He said if the company could not afford daily cleaning services, individuals would have to be responsible for the sanitation of their own workspaces. He said it would be great if the company could provide cleaning materials but if not, people should take responsibility for their own area and health.

President of the Human Resource Management Association Maxine Attong had similar suggestions.

She said wearing masks may become the standard practice. In that case, organisations could provide a certain number of masks and other personal protective equipment, depending on the job, for each employee. If employees want more, they could pay for it.

She also noted that most companies have cleaners or janitorial services, so conversations about the types of cleaning products used may have to happen in order to keep costs down.

Opportunity for reduced rental costs

On physical distancing in offices, she said, in the last ten years there had been moves to open-plan spaces for staff, with managers in offices. Increasing space between cubicles, erecting partitions, and having meetings online were some actions that could be taken to protect employees.

She too raised the issue of reduced rental costs to companies if fewer people were in an office. She suggested that frontline staff go to the office, while others could be rotated and come in two or three times a week, complete their work and leave.

Working from home would also increase productivity because sick employees could stay at home and still be productive unless they were “flat out in bed.”

“Whereas before a worker would have a cough and still come to the office because they have a deadline, now people can recuperate at home and still put in a few hours, according to how ill they are.”

She recognised some organisations have been hesitant or unnecessarily strict when implementing work-from-home measures, because the situation was new. She said some did not trust their employees and so required that they log in at a certain time, or scheduled meetings throughout the day to check up on employees, which was a cause of frustration to workers.

But she said companies have had a work-from-home trial these past few weeks and should have adjusted to the fact that even when they do not see their employees, they are still working, and so streamlined their processes to accommodate the situation.

“Some organisations are realising the processes they use are long-winded and bureaucratic. Questions are coming up because people have changed the way they have been doing things all the time, so they can see things with fresh eyes.

“Once we begin to ask questions, accepting that what we did may no longer be relevant, then we get brilliant answers that take us in a completely new direction.”

Attong said with these adjustments, organisations would have to be more deliberate about their planning. It would also force employers to be more aware of the skills of their staff.

“I have to think about what I really need this person in the office for, as opposed to someone else. This forces you to know who you need, what you need them for, what objective you’re trying to achieve, what would they need to complete the objective, and what is it that I need them here to do that they can’t do at home.”

Managers could also consider people’s personal circumstances – whether it would be easier for them, more productive, or an escape from a difficult situation – in deciding whether to ask someone to come into the office.

Attong said with such careful review, employers may rationalise their numbers and deploy staff members to areas that need more attention.

For example, she said social media grew in importance since the stay-at-home restrictions, so most organisations may need to pay more attention to that aspect of their business. She added that organisations need to take note of the areas in which they could digitise operations.

“We know digitisation brings reduction in cost, it gives us more reach in terms of customers, and of course, on the customer side, it makes life really easy.”

She said it was an opportunity for innovation. For instance, retailers could create online stores like Amazon. Companies could post pictures of the items available along with basic information that people could click on and buy, to be picked up curb side or delivered.

She said that was where reorganisation of staff would take place. There may be less need for cashiers but more need for back-end operations.