How can HR teams facilitate an effective return to the office

How can HR teams facilitate an effective return to the office

3 mins read

With the Covid 19 health restrictions easing down, many companies and businesses are considering getting their employees back to work. However, some are pondering over the benefits of working remotely.

In the middle of all this are HR teams who have to ensure the profitability of companies and at the same time, lookout for the wellbeing of the employees. They have to meet at a middle point. Here are the top tips that any HR team can follow for an effective return to the workplace:

Listen to employees

An efficient HR team will go out of their way to find out the opinion of the employees. Some cannot wait to get back to the workplace but there are some whose circumstances have drastically changed due to the pandemic and would highly prefer to work remotely. Make sure to listen and observe when making decisions.

Build a flexible bridge

Being in the middle of a group that wants to work remotely and the ones who cannot wait to go back, can be quite draining. However, you have to present data on how things will work out in both situations. It all comes down to the nature of the company but it is also important to be the flexible bridge between the company and its people.

Measure the productivity

It is very critical to know every member of the team. Some employees are very productive from home and others are very effective when they are at the office. It is important to manage their working situation according to their productivity to get the best output for the company.

Offer more

With turnover skyrocketing and competitors constantly hiring staff, it is very important to keep the employees satisfied, especially those who are stressed about the changing work environment. You need to balance the business needs with employee desires. Offer more compensation or benefits if needed.

Maintain employment laws

Maybe your company has branches in more than one state. If your branch is working from home and the other state branch is going back to the office, you need to make sure that everything is set up legally for that. Companies are subjected to the rules of their home state and the employment laws can be very complicated in some regions around the world.

It is necessary to constantly create new policies to bring in the workplace functioning in this unprecedented time. Doing what’s right for the employees and the company can be complex but with a little bit of flexibility and keeping everyone’s best interest in at heart, you will find a way to facilitate the most effective return of employees to the workplace.