Have you seen the leaders in the movies?

They care for the armies. They try to make them confident before taking them to the war or gathering them together at one place to work together.

The President’s speech in Independence Day movie.

Neville’s speech to make his people believe in him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Again, the President’s speech in the 2012 movie to ease the citizens’ minds.

The aspiring CEO’s speech to her team in the Start-Up Korean series.

Movies imitate life. Great leaders in real life do the same to bring their workforce together to weather a storm or to bring a new innovative idea to the market. The motivation from the leaders has been the great driving force of the performance of employees.

Now, it is time to halt remote work; return to office strategy has to be planned as times are going back to the old normal for employee engagement reasons though most companies have adopted different working models that are totally different.  

However, returning to workplace after COVID can bring out more anxieties within the minds of the employees. Of course, that is the familiar side to the workforce but they have been recently accustomed to the new work model.  

Returning to office after working from home for more than a year can crop up a lot of questions among the present remote workers: 

“Will it be safe to return to work now?” 

“Will I be able to manage travel and work again?” 

“I have to rent a room near work. What if the lockdown is imposed again?” 

“Will I get time to continue my upskilling process?” 

It is natural to have these kinds of questions as everyone is confronting an unpredictable period. Going back to the office after working from home is one such situation that does not assure a seamless working process. Therefore, this is the time for the HR leaders and managers to step in and clear the air. 

Here are a few ways to ensure a smooth return to the workplace after COVID. 

Empathize with Your Employees

When your management decides to call its employees back to office after COVID, the HR department and managers should not immediately break the news to its workforce.

Firstly, it should plan to listen to the concerns of the employees and check what can be handled and what not; also, how the company can help the remote workers in returning to the office.

If the leaders are judgmental, the employees hardly open up about their problems; instead, they would choose to quit. This will increase the employee turnover rate and company expenditure.

Therefore, the company needs to listen to the employees’ concerns with open hearts and minds to come up with an objective solution.

Take the Inputs of Employees

A few weeks before implementing the ‘going back to office after working from home’ plan, conduct regular meetings to know about what the employees think.

Take their inputs to create a strategy that is both employer-friendly as well as employee-friendly. Such plans work really well in reducing the worries of the employees because their pain points are also considered while strategizing.

Transparency in the Process

The employees should know every step of returning to office plan so that they can get prepared or even if they have any concern, they can express it then and there instead of having it in their minds which would affect their productivity negatively.

Sending emails on the next steps and having frequent team meetings to explain the process can help the employees ease their minds and focus on their work without having too much to worry about.

Hybrid Model

Companies like Synergita did not immediately send a notification to the employees to stop remote work and return to the office.

They first called 50% of employees to the office on alternate days to follow social distancing guidelines. So, the workforce was asked to work only two days a week from the office and the other three days from home.

This hybrid model boosts the morale of the workforce, and their engagement and productivity are unaffected.

Employee Safety

Make sure to create a platform or an excel sheet to update the COVID vaccination status of every employee and their COVID negative certificate.

The sheet should be visible to everyone, and the daily temperatures of every employee should be updated. This is one way of ensuring employee safety and giving assurance to the workforce that it is safe to work from the office.

Despite the flattening of the curve in many countries, the anxiety would prevail among the workforce till it is completely eradicated or some time passes by with zero mortality rate.

Until then, sanitize the entire work area every day and arrange the seats complying with the social distancing norms.

Effective Communication

The employees might be worried about the Whys i.e., why I should return now, why can’t I continue working from home, etc. Through effective communication, employers should address those whys.

Explain to the workforce why they should return to the office, and make it sound plausible to them so that they return to work without any anxiety.

Before the work from office days begin, create the guidelines that are to be followed by the employees and communicate them repeatedly to show that you take their safety seriously.

One-on-One Session

To reduce anxiety, increasing trust is one of the most effective ways. Strengthening the bond between the manager and employee can help the employees trust the organization more.

Continuous check-ins and one-on-one sessions give the employees more space and freedom to speak, especially if the managers exhibit strong leadership qualities.

The employees will feel cherished and come back to the office happily if the managers take appropriate action on the concerns expressed by the team members.

A Robust Going Back to Office Plan

Without planning, nothing will go our way. Discussing with the leaders of the organization and taking the inputs of employees, developing a plan that addresses all the needs of the employees and ensures a safe and seamless return will succeed in both short and long runs. A psychological session would also help before asking the remote workers to return to the office.

“Support employees returning to the office by preparing them for what they should expect. Develop a return-to-work plan that supports their diverse needs. Address environmental concerns and redesign workspaces to ensure social distancing. Effectively communicate to prepare employees in advance. Offer flexible work options that will allow employees to safely transition back into the office in phases.”

– Thalia Rodriguez, Providence Anesthesiology Associates

A Few Words…

No matter what the situation is, implementing a powerful performance management software solution can help your organization to maintain the productivity and engagement of the employees. Technology was the savior of organizations during this pandemic, and it will continue to be by offering innovative solutions during the challenging times and also after the normalization.