After a year of prolonged isolation, starting and stopping lockdowns and unprecedented scare, offices start to open up again, and people gradually come back to work. According to the recent research, 3 in 4 workers hope to come back to their offices in close future. In just a few months, all practices and conventions have changed. It affected not only our personal lifestyles but our workplace as well. Returning to work after the COVID-19 pandemic may be a stressful and awkward process. To make it more comfortable for their employees, companies need to change their polices by focusing on workers` physical and mental health, productivity and relations. Follow these 5 steps to ensure your office is ready for employees` big return.
Make your workplace safe and healthy
Upon returning to offices, the health and safety of your workers should be your biggest focus. The very first step is ensuring the physical workplace is clean and safe for employees to work in.
First, hire a cleaning service to deep clean the entire office. The professional cleaning solutions are more effective in killing all kinds of germs, bacteria and viruses than regular products. The cleaners also clear up the premises from top to bottom without missing any nook and cranny, as well as disinfecting both common areas and individual workplaces. Then make a contract with a cleaning company for regular cleaning and disinfecting on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.
Privy Berlin GmbH is a professional cleaning service company offering a wide range of cleaning services for homes and office spaces customized to your needs. Recently, due to the re-opening of the offices after the COVID-19 lockdown, many organisations chose our workplace management service with common sense for regular cleaning and disinfection.
It includes:
- Pandemic control and trainings
- Organisation of re-opening your office after the COVID-19 lockdown
- Disinfection routines for your team members and the cleaning company
- Safety of the teams, employees
- When registered Covid 19 in the premises, the organisation of Certified sanitizing companies and care for the entire property.
- Organising a vaccination campaign onsite
- Organising PCR testing campaigns or other medical procedures on-site
- Daily shifts for disinfection of office spaces
- Building up Home office routines and care procedures
- Taking care of the office spaces, flowers and utility services, while at the home office
- Cleaning after the end of the pandemic – Graffiti, sprays on floors and walls, glue from signs, etc
Encourage Good Personal Hygiene
After cleaning the office, it is important to encourage employees to keep it safe and healthy. When everyone does their part, the whole organisation feels more comfortable.
For instance, everybody must be aware of the correct hand washing and cleaning protocols. The employees should observe good personal hygiene, e.g. wash their hands regularly and refrain from touching their faces. They should also keep their workplaces clean and hygienic, and all high-touch surfaces and objects need to be wiped with disinfectant regularly. Workers should observe the rules of social distancing, wear masks and cover their mouths when sneezing or coughing. All sick employees must stay at home, but the company need to take care of the other workers by regular check of temperature and respiratory symptoms.
Lastly, make it easy for the workers to follow good hygiene practices by providing them with plenty of cleaning supplies on hand. Stock up with items such as Disinfectant wipes and/or spray, hand sanitiser, Hand soap, Paper towels, Tissues, Face masks, etc.
Update Company Policies and Procedures
There are numerous practical steps that employers could take to prevent the spread of Covid 19 in the workplace, but first and foremost is to update their policies and procedures regarding working schedules and places.
First, update your employees` sick leave policy and allow them to get extra days off if they test positive for Covid 19. Also, think about offering paid leave for employees who live with or take care of an infected person.
Next, update your working schedules according to Arbeitsschutzregelungen in terms of the new rights of employees to work from home during the pandemic. If it is not possible, consider different working shifts combined with remote work to prevent gathering large groups of people at the same time in the office.
Last, change your policy about holding meetings, because stuffing too many people in the conference room doesn`t comply with social distancing and may make them feel uneasy. Make all your meetings online if possible, but if not, just fill the meeting rooms up to half capacity.
Support the Adaptation and Socialisation of The Employees
Self-isolation and quarantine during the pandemic may have affected employees` feelings and mental health. After so much time apart, people could react to socialising in 2 certainly different ways. Some might feel awkward meeting their colleagues for the first time after such a long period, but others might have missed their coworkers and need to get back to normal relationships as soon as possible.
The main task of the employer is to provide both groups of people with proper facilities by changing the office layout to make them feel safe and comfortable. On one hand, the company have to organise special spaces dedicated to focus work like concentration pods or phone booths which would boost the office experience.
And on the other hand, there should be wellness and socialisation areas where colleagues could communicate and reconnect with each other, returning to the normal relations in the team. Most importantly, is to be flexible with the employees and give them time to get used to the new environment.
Restore The Productivity of The Company
After a year of working remotely, the home office routine has become the new normal lifestyle of the employees. However, going back to the office, earlier alarms, less flexible working hours, and spending more time in traffic might feel harsh and stressful.
To ease the transition and deal with the reluctance of workers to give up home office, employers need to apply a few facilitative measures, such as being flexible with the working hours for the first few weeks, adding a few more remote working days to the employee`s contract, providing a list of productivity sources and others.
A major goal of returning after the COVID-19 pandemic is to make workers feel as normal as possible. For instance, ensure employees have all the equipment and supplies they will need on their first day, keep up with workplace rituals and encourage social interaction.
If you are looking for a trustworthy cleaning company in Berlin for organizing of reopening of your office after the COVID-19 pandemic, let Privy Berlin GmbH be your choice.
We will set up an individual plan for your business, including cleaning and disinfection routines, spring cleaning, window cleaning and others.