As many countries around the world emerge from the first shock of the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home restrictions slowly lift, many employers are quickly learning that returning to the workplace does not equal returning to life as it was pre-pandemic and is actually more complicated than locking-down. While employers look for ways to preserve their employees’ health and well-being and keep them energized and productive, they will have to balance empathy and economics, even in the face of tough decisions.
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“Engaging employees in transparent, empathetic communication practices that will foster trust and strengthen the employer’s culture is vital. Combining data with a transformation of HR will enable companies to deliver an intimate employee experience via both people and technology.”
“Organizations faced with a global pandemic of such wide-sweeping impact cannot predict what a ‘new normal’ will look like, but they can predict the challenges they might face,” said Martine Ferland, President and CEO, Mercer. “This uncharted territory has pushed employers to consider who should return to the worksite, when and under which conditions; how work gets done digitally; what it takes for employees to be mentally and physically prepared to return to work; and what measures are critical to ensure success in these turbulent times. To be as prepared as possible, it is critical to build a risk mindset, thinking through what protocols and policies as well as what range of reactions employees may have and how to implement necessary changes. Leading companies are taking a fresh look at how best to return, with one eye firmly on how to use this reset as an opportunity to reinvent.”
HR Technology News: TecHRseries Interview with Iain Moffat, Chief Global Officer at People First
The ability to adapt quickly will be vital; employers will need to deploy a variety of proven channels for effective communication, while also providing tools and support for managers to accomplish these goals. As the pandemic unfolded in stages, economic recovery will also likely happen in stages, but it is clear that as employers progress on return practices, they will need to continually revisit their relevance for changing times. While each organization faces unique sets of challenges and variations by location, there are distinct issues that are top of mind.
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