Returning to the Office: What to Consider

In our last article, we delved into the debate around the office space, its purpose post-Covid and some things to consider before embarking on a return to the office. 

This time, let's focus on that last point - the challenges a return to the office might mean for your company. From expenses to cover PPE to pre-covid workplace tension that may return, encouraging staff to want to come back to the office to revisiting acceptable office behaviours, there is a lot to consider. It’s time to focus on these key challenges and provide some top tips on how to handle these in the coming year. 

Returning to the Office - Pandemic Considerations

A return to the office is most definitely easier said than done. Employers can be forgiven that it is simply a matter of having a few bottles of hand sanitiser, some signage to encourage social distancing and spaced out desks. But it isn’t as easy as it seems, particularly after this latest Covid-19 lockdown. But why?

Your staff members have grown accustom to working from home - from having their own private workspaces (when not having to home school children!) to having the ability to choose which radio station they would like to listen to, choosing what to cook up for lunch and having the ability to be flexible around working times to give the dog a walk or pick up some groceries.

Moreover, many business owners learnt the hard lessons during the first Lockdown of 2020 - PPE is extremely costly for a business, particularly when added onto the already expensive impact of the pandemic on many organisations. It isn’t just a matter of having some sanitiser for the first few weeks - businesses must realise that they need a consistent PPE supply for their staff as well as any necessary visitors to the office.

It became clear in 2020 that many office spaces were never designed with social distancing in mind - in fact, often they were designed to fit as many people in as possible to ensure rent remained cost-effective. As Irish businesses consider returning to the office again after the latest lockdown, many colleagues will be keen to ensure that social distancing remains in place, regardless of vaccinations amongst staff members.

Your Office Return: Top 3 Tips

1. People-First Approach

It might sound cliché but your people always come first in any decision you make as a business leader. It’s no different when it comes to returning your staff to the office post-pandemic.

Ensure that you check staff feeling before embarking on an office return - how many of your colleagues have received one or two vaccination shots? How many are still waiting for the vaccine? What about your vulnerable colleagues? If you want them to come back to the office, consider how they might feel about this change, regardless of the vaccine.

Take the time to ask your staff what they would like to see in place within the office before they would return, if they are happy to return and if not, what you could do as a people-first organisation to ensure they will be comfortable in the office once they decide it’s time to return.

2. Be PPE Prepared

2020 was certainly they year when the term ‘PPE’ became more widely known. But what does your business supply look like?

As you ask colleagues to return to the office, you may wish them to remain wearing a mask as they walk about the office. You may want to provide sanitising stations at key points within your office including the entrance/exit, kitchen and toilet facilities but also possibly at key desk spaces as well. You may wish to have considerable signage throughout your office buildings to continue the social distancing message. However, all of this costs considerable money for your organisation.

Be PPE prepared for a return to the office - take the time to source a reliable, consistent and value for money supply of sanitiser and other PPE supplies when needed. Take the time to decide whether you want employees to bring their own masks for the workplace or if it would be worthwhile budgeting for company face masks for the foreseeable, until vaccines begin to make a dent in the Covid-19 spread in Ireland.

3. Take Time

Last but not least important top tip - take time to return to the office. Yes the vaccine rollout is continuing to build up momentum across Ireland. Yes the ‘r’ rating for infection continues to decline. Yes your colleagues are growing weary of working from home and are ready to bounce back into some form of an office routine.

But it is crucial that you take your time as a business before initiating a permanent return to the office. The last thing you want as an employer is an outbreak of Covid-19 in your workplace - make sure you spend time drawing up a contingency plan for this as well as ensuring the correct amount of PPE is available for your colleagues, depending on their role.

Spend time considering the office layout - how you can rearrange desk and canteen seating to encourage social distancing as much as possible, and where PPE stations should be available throughout your office buildings. Also spend time considering how a hybrid approach to the return to the office might work - design rotas to allow as many colleagues as possible to return to ‘normal’ in some capacity without putting strain on your ability to protect staff from the virus. By taking time, you will ensure that your company’s return to the office proves a long-lasting success for both the organisation and Ireland’s fight against Covid-19 as a whole.

David Bell is CEO at The HR Department