Almost 2 years on since the global pandemic swept the nation, remote working has become something we’ve had to adapt to.
Since 2009, the number of people who work from home has risen by a whopping 159%, with 62% of employees aged 22 to 65 reporting that they choose to work remotely, at least occasionally.
But with lockdown finally lifting and normality beginning to set back in, it’s time for businesses and their HR departments to decipher how best to bridge returning to office working again. Here are some key points to consider.
Gradually Does It
With such a turbulent couple of years due to the pandemic, some workers may have grown accustomed to working remotely from the comfort of their own homes. Return to work anxiety is a very real emotion for many, which could be triggered by being ordered to return to the office full time, too soon. Instead, we recommend that you take a gradual approach, easing workers in with one day a week in the office whilst the rest of the week can remain remote. You can build this up as the weeks go by, increasing it to two days a week, then three and so the process continues. This gives employees time to adequately adjust to the getting back into the office, without overwhelming them.
Let Employees Have Their Say
It’s important after so much time working from home, that you let your workers have their say on what approach they might best like to take. Workplace surveys can be a great tool to determine (anonymously if preferred) what everyone’s preferences are when it comes to making a return to the office. Be sure to include questions outlining specifically what different implementations would make people feel more comfortable about their overall return to the office.
Track Employee Progress
Keeping track of exactly how your workers are developing in the workplace is the perfect way to compare things, such as which environment they tend to be more productive in. HR software tools allow you to gather this information to easily store each individual employees results in one easily accessible place.
Take All Appropriate Safety Measures
It probably goes without saying but although lockdown may have lifted, the pandemic is still far from over and coronavirus is still very much at large. Despite most of the UK being double vaxxed by now, this doesn’t prevent us from catching and spreading the virus indefinitely. Therefore, covid safety measures in the workplace have never been more important. It’s imperative to implement the correct safety measures in order to keep your business and teams within it thriving. From social distancing screens to sanitiser stations, click to the HSE website to find out more about how you can make your office covid safe in time for co-workers returning to work.