The way we worked before covid was fundamentally broken; our wellbeing, our climate and our business efficiency. The genie is out of the bottle; going back just simply isn’t an option. When considering the return to work, there are organizations making knee-jerk decisions trying to avoid a complex minefield of potential missteps that could impact the safety of their employees and the health of their business. Simply creating a ‘covid secure’ workplace right now would be a great opportunity lost in cementing real change and transformation into the world of work; for our wellbeing and our planet.
It can be incredibly challenging to know where to begin, there isn’t one size fits all. But, asking why and breaking down exactly why you’re making these changes is crucial. Are you making changes because you’re following government guidance or are you making changes because you’ve listened to your people and want to either look at the marginal gains to achieve workplace evolution or go big and aim for workplace transformation?
If we imagine the return to work as a circle, at its core sits your business needs, just beyond that is your people’s needs and one step further at the outer ring of the circle is your support services: HR, Facilities and IT. It’s imperative to work from the inside out, ensuring the business aims are met, the needs desires of the people are met, and the support services are enabling the people to achieve those business aims.
The outer ring ultimately enables the people and develops and implements policies and procedures, which in turn protect your employees and create a safe physical and virtual environment. This layer of protection helps employees feel safe and supported enough to feedback into your business which in turn will increase ownership, engagement, productivity, and output.
No paper exercise
It sounds so simple, but we know things are more complex in life than they are on paper. As an organization, you not only have to create an environment that is safe, but you have to allay fears, irradiate prejudices and open people’s minds up to change – which is perhaps the toughest but most important thing an organization can do.