One of the biggest stories that will unfold at the beginning of this year is the impending court case between Solidarity and the University of the Free State. The labour union wants to take the University to task over its forced vaccination policy, a policy that is not only been implemented by other tertiary education institutions, but major companies like Santam, Sanlam and Discovery. Solidarity’s position is that it is an unfair labour practice to present an employee with the choice of getting vaccinated or losing their job.
This is just one of the many issues that companies have to deal with as they re-open their offices and negotiate a safe return to the workplace with employees who have had the luxury of being productive at home and working is medically secure bubbles.
I recently read an article on the Harvard Business Review website which take a closer look at some of the issues that the US market faces. These are summarized below:
HOW ARE COMPANIES ALTERING THEIR REOPENING PLANS AT THIS POINT?
Throughout COVID, organizations have had to keep reopening plans flexible and adaptable to the changing landscape of the pandemic. As we saw in the summer of 2020, then into 2021 with the Delta variant and now with Omicron, organizations are pivoting in real time. When Gartner surveyed more than 125 business leaders in mid-December, 27% said they were delaying reopening plans or closing reopened workplaces, and 17% reported they were decreasing the number of workers allowed on-site at a time. Chances are this has only since increased.
HOW IS THE UNCERTAINTY AROUND THE RETURN TO THE OFFICE AFFECTING EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING?
What’s been particularly challenging about the real-time adjustments is workers feeling like they are in the dark with little insight into how their employer is thinking about things and making decisions. For employers, the key is to communicate in an authentic and transparent way with the workforce. Be honest about the fact that this is a difficult situation to navigate and that no one has all the answers. At the same time, it’s important to keep in mind the effects of the continued drag of the COVID reality on how employees live and feel. School closings, childcare issues, potential for quarantines and general lack of being able to engage in our “typical” life is tiring — and that makes a big impact on the overall well-being of employees. At this moment, employers need to consider, again, the different things people need to manage the very real merger of work and life while driving productivity. For example, with Omicron, we are seeing more young people test positive, which means we will probably see more and more kids shifting back to virtual learning — even if for a few days. Organizations need to plan for that and have strategies in place that allow for the quickly changing needs of employees who are also caretakers.
IN TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT, HOW SHOULD EMPLOYERS THINK ABOUT EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT?
The decisions leaders make in terms of Omicron response management (and potentially future variants) will have a direct impact on employee engagement, attraction and retention. It’s not enough to think about engagement strategies; employers need to position support strategies that meet employees where they are as they manage their personal and professional lives through this surge.
EMPLOYEES AND DISTRESS
In most cases, employees are not the root cause of a company’s financial distress. However, if employees are not managed in an appropriate manner, they can complicate a company’s distress. This means that the role of business rescue practitioners and business turnaround specialists is important when it comes to consulting with distressed companies and making sure that they are managing the return-to-work scenario in a positive way. Michelle Obama once said: success is not about how much money you make, its about the difference that you make in people’s lives. We need to appreciate the disruption that everyone has been through and responsibility that we have towards employees to create a safe working environment for them.