On July 17, nearly all businesses in Ontario were able to reopen, with the exception of those in Toronto and several other regions. As the province embarks on Stage 3 of its reopening strategy, many more businesses will now be considering how to return employees to work and open their doors to the public again. At the same time, in other provinces, businesses are seeing similar strategies implemented by governments as they get the go-ahead to start operating again.
With these steps forward come a few challenges, particularly over the uncertain way in which the virus will continue to spread in Canada, as well as evolutions in related provincial and federal legislation to address the COVID-19 risk. That’s why experts at Gallagher started to leverage a peak infection analysis tool to help their teams and other employers monitor the virus’s spread, in addition to putting in place other measures to return employees to work safely.
“We thought initially there might be just a shelf life of it in wave one, but as we possibly head into a wave two or three, I think having that capability to get at that challenge is going to be important,” said Melanie Jeannotte (pictured above), national president for Gallagher’s benefits and HR consulting practice.
Other considerations that are top of mind for Gallagher – and that other employers need to keep in mind – is the varied willingness of employees to return to the workplace. There are team members who would prefer to work from home for the time being while others are ready to return, but don’t have the infrastructure to support that return. Still, other employees might be more than ready to come back to the office. Balancing the needs of these individuals is a challenge that Gallagher and other businesses have to navigate, especially since some developments related to the virus are out of their control.
“For example, the return to work of employees or any workers who have school-aged children will depend on return to school in September,” said Andrew Hosie (pictured below), vice president of national strategic growth at Gallagher. “Irrespective of what those return-to-work protocols are and the safety implications, if schools do not return to normality in September, what do working parents do in those situations?”
On the other hand, the over-willingness of employees to return to work can also be a challenge. Some people have been holed up for four months now, and there are groups of employees who are desperate to return to the work, noted Hosie. However, employers must be diligent and go above and beyond on the various regulations coming from governments to minimize risks, especially considering what we’re seeing in some parts of the US where the return to work was accelerated too quickly.
As businesses transition their employees into the next phase of their pandemic response, there are several people-focused initiatives that leaders need to put front and centre. A people-focused strategy “begins with understanding the engagement of a workforce in the current conditions and understanding, as a function of that engagement, what the resiliency is for your workforce heading into this return-to-the-workplace phase,” explained Jeannotte.
Benchmarking the workforce’s attitudes during this time and seeing how it evolves can be done through a number of forums, including surveys and ongoing conversations that can help leaders to keep their finger on the pulse of their employees’ mindsets. This is crucial considering the long-term mental health impacts that a crisis like this can have on people.
In turn, “Something that employers will want to be doing is making sure that their house is in order around disability policies and the associated supports from a mental health perspective, because we are anticipating there to be impact as it relates to the need for those programs as this continues to play out,” Jeannotte noted.
As organizations plan out their return-to-work protocols, they likewise need to be mindful of communicating this information to their employees and being as transparent as possible. The transparency around an employer’s actions to safeguard their employees as they return to work has many benefits, one being that their workforce will be able to “return in a more seamless manner.” However, being transparent could also serve as “an attraction and retention tool in the new normal” when individuals seek out employers who protected their staff in a time of crisis and communicated their strategies effectively, added Hosie.
Finally, turning to experts like those at Gallagher, who can offer clients a range of risk management, risk transfer and people management solutions, will help employers map out their return-to-work plans and implement them over the coming months, while minimizing potential risks to their employees.
After all, “An employee is an organization’s greatest asset and from a risk perspective, anything that is done to safeguard any asset must be done using a methodical, holistic approach,” said Hosie. “The actions of your employees will negate risks from happening or exacerbate the ultimate exposure, so the more that is done to make employees feel a part of the furniture, and mentally and physically safeguarded, they will be more motivated to work with other employees and for the organization.”
