Deputy General Director for Operational Development BDO Unicon Outsourcing
Moscow has officially cancelled the self-isolation mode, and companies are planning gradual resumption of operations on the former scale, while the employees are preparing for their return to offices. Galina Shablinskaya, Deputy General Director for Operational Development in BDO Unicon Outsourcing, provides recommendations on how to organise gradual transition from the remote format and what changes should be taken into account.
1. Evaluate employees’ performance during self-isolation. Employees’ return to offices is no less difficult than their leaving it. First of all, we should ask ourselves: why should all employees return to the office right now?
If your business processes have suffered during self-isolation or your company's operations have completely stopped, you should return to your previous labour management scheme as soon as possible. Please, determine the percentage of employees actually required for normal operations, review the processes, and single out those that cannot be performed remotely.
If the work went smoothly, consider whether you can preserve the remote work option for your colleagues. Many of our partners and clients do not plan to return to their offices in the same volume. Such solution can be found convenient not only for employees, but also for the company, since the rental costs are thus reduced.
2. Keep your workplaces safe. The fact that Moscow has lifted restrictions on movement around the city does not mean that the risk of infection has completely disappeared. We all understand that further extension of non-working days will lead to irreversible consequences for the country's economy, so we need to return to work. For the three months, hospitals have been well-equipped, the incidence rates have been reduced, new antibody tests have appeared, still one should remember that the pandemic is not over yet.
Thus, when returning employees to office work, create safe working environment for them, taking into account all the requirements and recommendations: install special protective screens between the work desks, ensure access to disinfectants, sanitizers, and masks. This requires separate development, additional time and money, but the safety of employees is more important.
3. Approve the plan for employees’ return to offices. In addition to space preparation, it is also important to monitor the situation of infection spread in order to prevent any outbreak of disease within the company.
We have developed a plan for employees’ return to offices: at each stage, a certain percentage of staff will work in the office. Nowadays, no more than 10% of employees return to our office spaces. If the favorable trend continues, we will increase the number of employees to 20-25%, and by the end of the year — to 50%. The remaining percentage will continue working from home.
4. Adapt your work processes and revise your business communication culture. The most important thing for us now is not to forget that we have reorganised our life in order not to get sick and not to put our loved ones at risk. Therefore, when returning to normal life, you should always keep in mind the safety and hygiene issues, including in business communication. In our culture, it is customary to come close to each other to emphasise trust in a business partner, to shake hands when meeting and saying farewells, but now you will have to get used to the fact that the distance of 1.5 m is also a sign of respect.
5. Consider the opinions of your colleagues. A three-month period is enough for people to form new habits and a different daily routine. Many people have found positive aspects in remote work: they no longer need to spend time in traffic, so they have more time to perform their professional duties and communicate with their family. If employees can efficiently work from home, if they want to continue to work this way part of the time, you should give them such opportunity.
Not everyone will want to return to office just because they have to. Our last survey on how our employees see their working day after the pandemic has showed that many of them are in favour of a complete or partial transition to remote work.
We should keep abreast of all developments and receive timely feedback from colleagues and understand how their work processes function. Strong orders can provoke dissatisfaction and dismissal of valuable personnel now.
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