Look to compromise when returning staff to the office

When returning staff to the office, consider individual situations case-by-case to accommodate requests and better meet employee needs (Getty Images/Luis Alvarez)

As businesses reopen, with spaces reconfigured in adherence to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, some employees are wary of returning on site. 

Reasons vary from a lack of childcare; being, or residing with, the immune- compromised; or general anxiety over travelling to, or being at, the office.

What does this mean for businesses and how accommodating should they be to employees? 

Here are four considerations when opening office spaces while looking out for staff, too.

1) ENGAGE STAFF

Communicate what changes are being made, from major differences employees can expect when they return to support systems that will be in place to ease the transition.

“The biggest piece is the flat-out fear about what is going to happen when they return, so employers have to consider the emotional wellness of employees,” says Rhonda Scharf, trainer, speaker, author and president of Ottawa-based consulting firm On the Right Track. “They need to over communicate what they are doing … to get rid of that full-on panic that many people are feeling.”

Employee engagement also means having them participate in making the plans. A survey, allowing workers to respond in longer form in addition to multiple choice questions, gives leaders and HR perspective on where employees stand on returning to the office, working remotely and who has challenges, including childcare or health concerns.

“It is very important for the culture of your organization, which is changing substantially right now, to engage [with] them,” says Scharf. “Ask [employees] more open-ended questions … that are anonymous, so people don’t feel judged.” 

Managers should also connect with team members—individually and as a group—providing relevant updates and addressing questions and concerns. Feedback should be practically considered, and applied, at the team and organizational level.

“There needs to be much more personal connection,” says Scharf. “It’s about treating them more like individual people, not [just] a department, or a group.”

2) THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX

If there has ever been a time to get creative, it’s during this pandemic. 

Unlike any situation organizations have faced before, it will take some beyond-the-norm thinking to find solutions that meet business and staff needs. Keep in mind that these may shift over time as pandemic restrictions lift and employee situations change.   

“Nobody can put their foot down and say it’s really clear that, in October, it’s going to work like this because nobody knows what it’s going to look like in October,” says Katherine Lippel, professor and holder of the Canada Research Chair on Occupational Health and Safety Law. “It’s a good time to construct solutions that are flexible and work for both parties.”

With time and energy already invested in a remote workforce, prioritizing and assessing who needs to be in office and who doesn’t could be a win-win for both employer and workers—proving flexibility and potential cost savings, adds Lippel. 

Finding compromise, such as returning employees certain days of the week, may be a viable solution, as it accommodates employees that who wish to stay remote and those who miss the office. Accept that you may not be able to please everyone. 

“Be open to the idea that maybe it’s not what we always thought. That it’s not absolutely essential to supervise employees by having them in sight,” she says. “Businesses should have wiggle room and adapt to the needs of specific employees.”

For CPA Debra Feltham, principal of Feltham and Associates accounting firm, who has 50 per cent of her staff work remotely during the pandemic, facilitating this comes down to trust and communication. 

“I have never considered that I need to spy on my staff to see what they’re doing at any given time,” she says. “Expectations need to be set and conversations had … [while] developing trust that it’s about what they’re producing, not what they’re doing every minute.”

3) KNOW EMPLOYEE RIGHTS

There are circumstances that fall under human-rights legislation, including caring for children or parents, or a medical reason to work from home that will have to be accommodated, says Andrew Monkhouse, employment lawyer of Monkhouse Law. 

“The extent that an employer has to accommodate someone is up to the point of undue hardship on the company, so, [for example], a small employer may not have to put in an elevator that would cost a lot of money,” explains Monkhouse. “If a doctor says that an employee cannot, for whatever reason, including stress and anxiety, work from the office, then an employer would be legally required to accommodate that.”

Though there are no legal grounds outside human-rights issues, employees seeking to work remotely—who have done so successfully, but are refused by their employer—may have grounds for appeal, explains Monkhouse. These cases would be considered based on individual facts, he says, and could potentially lead to the employee’s constructive dismissal with pay severance. 

“If an employee, who is working productively, returns to work when absolutely unnecessary, then we can imagine if the matter is ever before a judge the unsympathetic employer is going to have a difficult time,” he says.   

Rather, Monkhouse adds, it may be in the employer’s best interest to find a compromise to preserve employee morale and talent retention. 

Lippel agrees, adding that it makes “good business sense” to keep workers as happy, and therefore productive, as possible, particularly when dealing with skilled workers and employees loyal to the organization.

“From an employer perspective, regardless of the legal obligations,” she says, “I would ask myself: ‘How can I value this employee and how can I take this opportunity to make that employee realize that she or he is valued for the long-term?’”

Moving forward, Feltham embraces her firm’s new-found flexibility with the remote workforce continuing. While certain staff who need to be are in the office, others continue to work from home. 

“We’ve learned how to function efficiently,” she says. “I don’t see any challenges that we can’t overcome, especially with the technology that we have in place and the new skills that we’ve learned. We’ve become more and more efficient and innovative.”

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Is your business in the stages of reopening? Find out best practices for doing so, and how office spaces are being redesigned. There’s never been a time business agility meant more. Find out ways your business could make it through to other side of this pandemic.