Planning For The Return To The Office

Different countries around Asia are making their own rules about where employees should work. That makes sense; each country has a unique situation with regard to COVID. Whatever plans your country currently has in place for returning to the office, they will surely change in the future. You need to be planning for what your workplace will look like, and how you’re going to get there.

You need to figure out the right balance between working at the office vs working from home. Twitter, for example, has a new policy that employees can work from home permanently if they choose. Other companies may want everyone back to the office as soon as possible. Your response may be more in the middle, between home and office.

A government-sponsored survey in Singapore, released at the end of April, showed that 80% of respondents preferred to continue working from home at least part-time, even though many of them feel less productive working from home. Those numbers may have changed since then, but you won’t know until you ask your employees, so reach out to them. You need to think about the purpose of an office, what you really need it for, and how you should use it. With that in mind, you then need to come up with plans for where your people should work, and when.

How will you handle returning to the office? Keep in mind that your employees may be nervous about coming back. A majority of respondents in a recent Singaporean poll hesitate to return to their office. The numbers may be different in your country, but you will have plenty of people who are concerned about contracting a virus at work and bringing it back into their homes.

The consulting firm Gartner has published some work on this that encourages reopening your offices in phases. They recommend having your leadership team return first, to help others feel confident about their own return later. You also need to consider rearranging the office layout to accommodate social distancing, having hand sanitizer available, rules for the pantry, and so on. In Singapore, some offices started reopening in June, but they are required to have plans in place for employee safety. Start working on those now if you haven’t already, to improve both your employees’ health and their confidence.

Finally, communicate your plans to your employees, not just about the workplace but about the business overall. Don’t make them wonder what’s going to happen, don’t leave them to worry about the unknown. Try to reduce the uncertainty your team is experiencing

Your goal is to have employees who are engaged in their work and confident about their leadership. The best way to improve that confidence is to have plans, and be open about them. If you have not started planning for the future of your workplace, you need to get on it.