Are we thinking practically about returning to work?

It is likely that reboarding back to work will be gradual process rather than sudden. Most people will still be asked to work remotely at least some of the time, and physical office time may have to be on a flexible basis rather than standard 9 – 5pm. This structure will continue to create challenges for people balancing personal lives and child care. It will continue to be difficult for anyone who works best when separating work and home time.

There will be new personal hygiene etiquette’s, what to do when coughing, sneezing or feeling under the weather. There will likely be mandatory use of disinfectants, with a shared responsibility to do some elements of basic cleaning. Companies will find themselves introducing new social protocols around things like handshaking, sharing a lift, and the use of meeting rooms. Companies will back up these protocols by making them official company policy, supported by compliance training and penalties for breaking them.

AN OPPORTUNITY

The good news is that this is also an opportunity, to restate company values and objectives and build employer brand. Staff returning from being furloughed are likely to have questions about their place in the organisation. Handled well, this can be a moment to build trust and loyalty, whilst getting them back to being productive as quickly as possible.

Digital learning tools can help deliver critical information to staff now, whilst still at home. Every organisation will have unique challenges to work through, so an off the shelf solution will simply not work. Fenturi designs content, so will collaborate with you to create a unique solution, that will be authentic to your brand’s values and personality. Your staff will quickly notice that you have crafted a hyper relevant piece of communication and will respond with greater levels of engagement.

Fenturi recommend creating easily accessible formats, like those that your staff seek out and talk about outside of work, such as video. Content can be designed to invite participation, and even adapt according to feedback. You might consider a campaign approach, with the first phase inviting people to share their concerns, and then delivering a series of ‘episodes’ designed to clearly and concisely address the multiple areas that need addressing.

This could be the moment for L&D to demonstrate its unique role to reach out to everyone in the company, inspiring, motivating and retaining critical talent.