Top Tools to Consider when Planning to Return to Workplace after COVID
It may not officially be the end of the pandemic but things are slowly getting back on track.
For organisations welcoming their employees back to the office, it is important to understand the need for a robust solution to seamlessly manage the hybrid workforce. With more than 70% of employees worldwide wishing to stick to remote ways of working, organisations are posed with a big challenge to make the workplace conducive for their employees. The workforce has gone through so much mentally, physically and emotionally that they may not be willing to return to offices even if the facility is completely sanitized/ sterilized are marked safe.
The post-COVID workforce is different and therefore, the workplace needs to be evolved and transformed too. Thinking about a glorious return to the workplace after COVID? Here are the top tools to consider to help your workforce stay connected and help them embrace a flexible work-life.
Tools that Facilitate Office Space Planning
Once businesses reopen, the first priority of the managers is going to follow set guidelines and protocols that have been laid out by the government. Returning to offices is not going to be easy because, in any circumstance, occupancy limit and space optimisation would have to be strictly implemented within the premises. It might seem like keeping social distancing at work is a fairly easy task but apparently, it is not. If companies resort to instructing employees to follow rules without providing the right tools, then it will inevitably result in a chaotic workplace.
Imagine having a day when all the employees decide to work from the office without prior information? It could lead to chaos and put the reopening business in jeopardy. Space management solutions like office desk booking software and space optimisation software are, therefore, highly crucial for facilities and office premises that want to maintain the safety of their workers. With tools like these, employees can safely pick up their slots and book their desks in advance for ensuring maximum safety and productivity. The management, too, can easily decide the occupancy level of particular floors by resorting to such apps and tools that allow bookable desks so as to seat the staff at appropriate (Safe) distances. The best part of using such tools is that it needs no overlooking by any security guard or employee, achieving space management is a matter of a few clicks.
Tools for COVID-Free Environment
For any company, the foremost requirement is to create and ensure a healthy, safe and hygienic environment. The cleanliness regime would not only require amendments and upgrades but also would have to be strictly followed, unlike the pre-pandemic times when disinfection was carried out once or twice a week.
When it comes to employees, they can be asked to wear gloves and mandatorily use masks whenever they are on-premises. Even the workplace crowd can be regulated by limiting the number of employees visiting the office on a daily basis, but how can companies deal with the infection coming from outsiders (visitors)? The transmission of COVID is most likely to enter from the visitors visiting your facilities and therefore, companies would have to look deeper and aim to create a safer space with digital solutions like visitor management software on board. After taking all the pains of maintaining safety standards at the workplace for employees/ people inside the building or office premise, overcrowded receptions and haphazard movement of visitors inside the campus is the last thing that companies would want. With facilities making use of technology to capture visitor temperature, assigning them entry badges, capturing visitor travel/ medical history, etc a proper visitor management solution is the way to go for a cost-effective business reopening.
It also allows the management to limit the number of visitors in a day or in an hour, allowing the health workers to sanitize the meeting rooms and visitors’ lobbies at regular intervals of time. Having touchless technologies at the workplace in the wake of COVID can be of great help in providing that extra level of security and safety for your workplace and peace of mind for the company management.
Employee Feedback Tools
All of us have gone through a hard time during the pandemic. The employees and employers have had a tough time adjusting to remote working and staying indoors for months has affected all emotionally as well as physically. The return to office is not the same for all employees and it can be hard to bring them all on the same page and organisations, therefore, need to provide extra care. It is also the time to reimagine how employers deal with the employees’ mental and physical well-being. In order to maintain and retain the talent at companies, employers and executives need to bring employees into the spotlight. Gen-Z, who are going to make up the largest portion of the workforce in the coming decade, are more inclined to flexible work culture.
As companies have brought in schemes for setting up recreation centres and free zones inside the office for employee relaxation, it is time to do more. Having tools that support the emotional and mental wellbeing of employees need to be encouraged. A great step towards achieving this is by opting for online resources like Internal Employee Help Desk Software that allows the employees to register their complaints formally. Such solutions instil trust and confidence among the employees, especially remote workers who may feel neglected because of off-premise work mode. Investing in such thoughtful technology would make the workplace healthier and more productive, resulting in a more reliable, loyal and goal-oriented work environment.
Communication Tools
Most offices are reopening with a hybrid model which allows the employees to shuttle between home and office as and when they prefer. In order to avoid absenteeism and fear of being left out among the remote staff, facilitating communication is a must. Moreover, technology is moving at such a fast pace that it is possible to get all the employees on the same task and do things together in a highly systematic and synchronised fashion.
Collaboration and communication are taking the centre stage for the organisations that wish to create an equal and fair work environment for the employees, regardless of them being on-site or at home. According to recent studies, the companies where employees are close-knit or connected are 25% more productive than others. The advantages of communication tools are far too many to enlist and too impactful to imagine. To-do lists, schedules, calendars that sync with other apps, task managers and group organisers are already ruling the market.
The only challenge that companies face with communication tools is that they need to be accessible and loaded with features but not at the cost of employees’ productivity. Therefore, organisations need to find a balanced platform that does all the work and allows the employees to seamlessly collaborate without disrupting their abilities or talents.
Digitalizing Tools for Complete Safety
Tools that make the lives of employees easier and make tasks simpler are truly in demand because they bring in the efficiency needed to jumpstart. In order to sustain a hybrid workplace, companies need to incorporate a cohesive workplace strategy that distributes digital solutions across all the levels of the organisation. Offices cannot afford to turn a blind eye to technology in this era even and getting random tools will also do no good. How can an employee solve a real problem when he/she is entangled in finding a glitch in operational code? It is already difficult for employees to focus in offices, especially after the pandemic and employers cannot expect them to hustle like old days. There is a dire need for companies to provide employees with the right gadgets to carry out their day to day tasks with ease.
For the post-pandemic workplace to function, workplace management software is more necessary than ever because apart from increasing the employees’ productivity and efficiency, the various software also contribute to creating a secure and completely COVID-safe zone for the existing staff. Such software also allows for the creation of no-code workflows and integrated internal processes. This helps minimise redundant codes and functions. It will take forward-thinking and prioritisation of workplace digitalization to see the desirable results.
Which tools work best for the company and which may be skipped is all a matter of proper strategy and planning. All of this needs to be done before bringing employees back to the workplace because a small mistake can cause big trouble for the whole organisation and companies cannot afford that to happen when they are finally getting back to work.
