Although we’re unable to predict if there will be another pandemic spike, there is some speculation that it could be some time before its business as usual again. Workplace policies have had to adapt in such big ways, when business as usual does return, it will now mean something else entirely.

As restrictions ease and employees look at going ‘back to work,’ it’s worth reviewing how workplace policies need to change as well. Below are some key points about adapting workplace policies and guidelines. Consider discussing them with your HR and leadership teams, as well as some of the updates mentioned in our last blog: Human Resources and Change: How to Adapt to Disruption in a Modern World.

Sick Leave Policies

Are your employees staying home when they need to? Many office cultures haven’t allowed people to take the time-off they really need, and it expected that they ‘tough it out’ at the office. How will you ensure sick leave policies are adjusted and adhered to? Start by reviewing your existing time-off policies and any additional policies enacted during Covid-19.

• Discuss the current policies and cultural expectations with employees
  • How can you make them more comfortable with staying home when ill?
  • Ensure employees know they will not be reprimanded if they stay home due to illness
• Consider adding additional sick days
• Put in place guidelines for returning to work after illness

Cross Training

Ensuring you have more than one employee trained on skills and with the required access for certain essential tasks will increase your organization’s versatility and resilience in case of illness.

• Find out which employees have an interest in or the ability to take on additional responsibilities
• Consider adding more mentorship and training opportunities
  • This is not only helpful during a crisis, but something that employees are seeking in a more human centric workplace
• Plan ahead to ensure an employee taking on more work will not be overwhelmed
  • Prioritize essential tasks, put support in place, and improve communication channels

Remote Working Policies and Capabilities

The timeline for the workplace of tomorrow has been thrown out the window. Businesses both small and large have had to adapt quickly to rely heavily on technology to survive this crisis. Recent polls have been showing that only 38% of Canadians are comfortable returning to work right now, and around 50% of Americans want to continue working from home.

Not every job can be done from home. However, technology and enabling remote work wherever possible is now necessary for ensuring safety, attracting and retaining talent, and staying competitive.

• Evaluate what tools are available, and get advice on where to invest
• Talk with employees and management about where they’re struggling and where technology can help
• Review or put into place remote or work from home policies

If your organization is looking for more information or thought leadership on technology in the modern workplace, our eBook is free and a great place to start.

Health and Safety Policies

Are your health and safety policies compliant and up-to-date? Can you quickly and clearly update employees as situations change? Can employees easily access vital health and safety information?

• Consider going paperless
  • Helps lower contamination risk
  • Digitalized and centralized information is easier to access and can be updated more easily
• Include social distancing measures when reviewing health and safety policies
  • Would barriers, individual offices, spacing, or altering shifts make more sense?
  • Should common areas be restricted or repurposed?
• Review sanitary measures and consider supplying masks, and hand sanitizer

Whether your organization has implemented working from home, added safety measures, or closed temporarily, it’s difficult to find any workplace worldwide that hasn’t had to adjust. Clear communication and strong leadership will be needed as organizations continue to navigate what comes next. Reviewing and updating policies, and adding structure wherever possible can only help.

If you need advice, insight, or have a topic you would like to see covered in the future, please contact us at info@hrwize.com.

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In the world of Human Resources, change is expected. When ideally set up and supported, the HR department handles the ups and downs of an organization, directing that organization’s employees through both the routine and the unexpected.

However, when change is unexpected, particularly large-scale change, how can an organization’s Human Resources team adapt? How can they embody what’s required of the employees and offer the right kind of support? How an organization handles these situations can influence how prospective employees and clients see them, as well as set them up for future success.

Working Remotely

Having the ability to work remotely and being prepared to look after remote workers are two separate, but equally important issues. Companies that are not prepared to have employees work from home have to play catch up with both.

While this may be true, it’s not a completely dire situation. Technology can help massively in both circumstances. Make sure you’re investing in tools that are:

• Cloud based/Accessible
• Adaptable
• Secure
• Scalable

This type of technology could include virtual collaboration tools, email management tools, a Human Resource Management System (HRIS), or anything that could better enable your employees to work remotely. This also presents the issue of staying connected and keep your organizational culture intact when employees don’t have the ability to socialize and connect on a more casual level. Being able to nurture your culture and employee well-being while working remotely is just as important as providing the flexibility itself.

It’s very easy to be focused on “just getting through it” when dealing with a crisis. That being said, a more strategic perspective is always preferred. It is important to note that companies need to suppress the desire to be reactive in cases like this and take the time to properly vet any software purchases to ensure there are long term benefits to the investments they are making. When looking at something like working remotely, this is a trend which has started to become the new standard in the modern workplace. Thinking more long-term and enabling your employees, leadership, and HR teams to embrace this change will set up your company for success well into the future.

Employee Wellness

How your employees are doing emotionally and physically will impact how your organization weathers disruption. Stress from change can negatively affect both aspects of employee wellness. How can your HR and leadership teams work together to better support employees through a crisis or change?

We’ve previously discussed employee wellness through:

• Empathy – Active Listening and Connection
• Engagement – Feedback and Interaction
• Elevation – Support and Growth

How can these things support employee wellness through disruption, particularly when that disruption means working from home?

• Offer flexibility in work hours.
• Set up more frequent group and individual discussions with opportunity for casual interactions.
• Leadership and HR should be enabling frequent two-way communication.
• See if employees are interested in learning from home to help support their career development
• Have virtual mentoring sessions.
• Consider setting up virtual happy hour, or other ways for employees to unwind together remotely.
• Make information on mental and physical health widely available and try to customize to what your employees really want and need.
• Place an emphasis on separating work and home life, and have resources available for those who are struggling.

 Organizational Culture

Disruption and change can have a lasting impact on an organization, but they are also an opportunity for companies to reflect, self-assess, and find improvement.

Ask yourself:

• Does your organization have work from home policies and are they up to date?
• What does your current corporate culture look like and is it properly supporting your employees?
• What direction would you like your organization to take after dealing with this disruption?
• Are you communicating clearly and often with the right messages?

Dealing with change, especially when it’s unexpected, causes people to react in a lot of different ways. The people that make up your organization are, above all, only human. Developing a more human workplace culture helps to not only manage that change, but support and grow an organization to find long-term success.

The post Human resources and change: how to adapt to disruption in a modern world appeared first on HRWize.