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Covid Ready Workplace Mini-Series (Part Three of Three)

Like most of us, I am ready to embrace our new world when the moment arrives. I’ve had enough of living in my small bubble. Although the world is still going through a period of haziness, it is beginning to wake. With that brings excitement and perhaps carelessness – everything Covid needs to continue its assault on our world.

As leaders in our companies, we are responsible for our employees. And as excited as we are about re-emerging we have to be mindful and balance it with safety protocols and common sense. Returning our employees to the workplace should be done in a pragmatic process.

Until everyone receives their armour, and the world returns to her grandeur, the most effective way to defeat our enemy is to continue to reduce unnecessary group gatherings and that includes restricting the number of employees who come into the office.

To prevent too many employees in the company at the same time, companies should consider the following acronym HIT when returning their employees to the workplace:

 Hybrid schedule should be considered. For example, work 2 days from home and 3 days in the office.

• Implement staggered start times. For example, Lisa can start at 8:00 a.m. and Amy can start at 11:00 a.m.

 Telecommuting – if possible, allow employees who can continue to work from home to do so.

In an ideal world, we wouldn’t even need to think of these measures. However, our situation is anything but ideal. Implementing some of these best practices means that we can all return safely to work sooner. I am looking forward to the day I can re-integrate with humanity again.
This completes our three-part mini-series of Covid Ready Workplace. In this mini-series we talked about returning your employees safely to the workplace by implementing safe workplace measures, procedures for contact tracing if an employee is tested positive for Covid and scheduling employees for a gradual return to work.

Lisa Trinh is a Partner at HR4U and is a certified human resource professional. If you have any questions or if you would like to get in touch with her, she can be reached at lisa@hr4u.work.

HR4U offers a cost-effective Human Resources solution to small and medium-sized companies just like an in-house HR department. One-to-One advice from HR experts and 24/7 access to an Online Resource Centre for a monthly flat fee.