Pandemic Return to Work
I started to type the word “return” in the search bar and “return to work COVID-19” immediately popped up, yielding so many suggested to-do lists. So, I thought it would be more helpful to go beyond hypothetical and share what my executive team and I are actually doing.
1. Make decisions based on the needs of your organization.
While you should be aware of orders issued by the state, those are minimum considerations. As an employer, you have the option to look out on the horizon and make decisions that work best for your staff. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve made decisions ahead of the state regarding the health and safety of our team. We were one of the first to implement a temporary policy to not require the use of PTO if a staff member was sick or had to care for a sick family member. We closed our physical office a week before the state issued any requests related to working from home and two weeks before the first stay-at-home order was issued. We recently surveyed our staff to better understand their comfort level and any challenges they may have with returning to work. The questions covered PPE needs, anxiety levels, childcare issues, feelings of isolation, concerns about the lack of a vaccination, etc. The feedback collected is informing our decision-making around our return to work plan, which leads me to #2.
2. Ensure you have a plan, but remain flexible.
On May 1, Washington State Governor Inslee laid out his four phase plan for re-opening our economy. Each phase of the plan identifies the sectors that will be allowed to return to work, as well as the social distancing measures the government is asking us to adhere too. Armed with staff feedback, we reviewed the Governor’s steps to inform our organizational plan. While we were quick to close up shop, we will likely be among the last to return to work. The health and safety of my team is the top priority. We’ve been working from home since March 4 and my team has proven that they can get the job done. In fact, most reported working at a 90 percent efficiency rate, which shows in the quality of their work. Our current plan is to remain in work-from-home status through phases 1, 2 and 3 of the Governor’s plan and then make an assessment at that point in time. We want to again consider how our staff is feeling and the challenges they may face. We want to review health data related to the growth or decline of the virus. More importantly, we don’t want to rush our staff back to work and subject them to unnecessary exposure.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
In a stressful time such as this, it’s okay to over-communicate. Each time my executive team and I make a health and safety decision, I send my “Captain’s Log: CEO Updates” (yes, I love Captain Kirk) to staff and then discuss the plan at our weekly staff check-in. Given the communication challenges with working apart, I instituted a 30 minute all staff meeting every Monday to provide any organizational updates. I email an overview of the updates in advance for those who need time to process, verbally review the updates during my staff check-in, and then email a post-meeting summary. Seems like overkill? Perhaps, but I recognize that people process and learn in multiple ways and there is never a good time to make decisions in a vacuum.
4. Be consistent.
You’ve already seen this in my “Resources for Humans” blog post. I believe in leaders being consistent. Sometimes it’s necessary to pivot, but it’s hard for your team to follow if the pivots just keep coming. In an effort to ease anxiety and remain consistent, my leadership team drafted a list of commitments related to how we will make decisions and respond during this pandemic.
Your input will be taken into consideration when developing the return to the office plan.
We will respect where you are on the continuum of readiness to return to the office and plan to be as flexible as possible.
We will remain flexible with your work/life balance and personal situation.
We will continue to inform and support you with any benefits and COVID-19 related questions.
We will work with our landlord to ensure clean common areas and office space.
We will continue our temporary PTO policy which states that you do not have to take PTO if you (or a family member) needs to take sick days.
Decision-making during this pandemic has had to happen at a faster than normal pace, so these commitments have helped to guide my health/safety discussions with my executive team. And, I’m only as strong as the team behind me and this transparency has been key to successfully navigating during these insanely challenging times.
@CEOARJ
“Empowered by my ancestral hustle and warrior soul.”
*All statements expressed in this blog are my personal views and not a representation of Washington STEM.
