History is a good indicator of our future. But only if we learn its lessons because it is important to understand that this pandemic is one which has changed our lives and businesses maybe for the better, in every area irrevocably. we are going to learn things that the company must do after this lockdown gets over as deep down its clear that Corona has successfully taken over our lives.
To get back to your 9 to 5, we should learn that there has to be a new normal and we have to adapt ourselves and the workplace to it. The Chain of lockdown has disrupted our work-life in a way we have never seen throughout the globe. And its seen that the majority of people around the world are working from home, daily wage workers and those in industries where remote working isn’t possible are facing the bad consequences of it. Employees who have the privilege to work for home, the idea of going back to work in their company could be a little daunting and out of their current daily tasks.
Getting your businesses up and it should run smoothly simultaneously like earlier times could be like at your wit’s end for a company or business.
The way companies do businesses has advanced over the last decade. We always knew that flexible home working, using digital technology, was possible. Some firms have been using Microsoft teams, Zoom and Skype to conduct online meetings for years. In my honest opinion, what COVID-19 has done is just shown to us that we no longer need expensive land space in premium-priced cities to be effective or efficient. the bonus of no travel, closed offices and buying essentials means shows that we are also helping the nature.
Since COVID 19 has been a great leveler for everyone and its list of effects stands to be devastating.
Also Read: Dealing with Biggest Issue of CoronaVirus
it had affected our bodies, workplaces, and even the biggest of the world. Nobody expected it! That such a teensy weensy virus can make a big menace on such a large scale and so quickly, that we have to eventually change our lives, habits and daily rituals.
For several years we have heard voices about the coming financial crisis, but the direction it came from makes our eyes wide open. Indices of major Stock Exchanges, such as Nasdaq, are falling even by 9% in a single day. Investors are panicking, Many make haste decisions have been made due to emotional toll. And now it’s so crystal clear that the world is struggling with a crisis, forcing us to make changes for which we were never prepared for as in-person, companies, or organizations.
Output Of Major Industries Reduced Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic:
• Airlines and Hotel industry: between 70-75%
• Auto and advanced industries: 50-60%
• Construction and Real estate: 50%
• Consumer and Retail: 20-25%
• Chemicals: 15-20%
• Textiles: 50%
• Freight and Logistics: 40-45%
• Metals and Mining: 35-40%
• Oil and Gas: 20-25%
• Power: 20-25%
• Agriculture: 15%
• IT services: 10-15%
• Pharma: 10-15%
• Telecom: 0-5%
“Most industries will need to reactivate their entire supply chain, because the impact of Coronavirus was different in scale and timing in various countries across the world,” says Yogita Tulsiani, Co-founder, iXceed Solutions. “Leaders must, therefore, reassess their entire business system and plan for contingent actions to return their business to effective production at pace and scale,” says Tulsiani. “But the problem will become more complex as winter will bring new problems for many countries,” she says. “In my opinion, pay cuts, layoffs, deferring bonus in the payout, deferring salary payment is very much being implemented by many organizations,” she adds.
Also Read: What New Innovations will Come after COVID-19 Pandemic?
Now the biggest question is: Can their company stand at par with its previous productivity and a return to rehiring and training OR Will more companies move towards remote working?
COVID-19 in The Workplace
Due to the proximity of employees in workplaces, employers must consider the risks posed by the virus and the legislative obligations as employers. On any day they run the risk of their employees, business associates, and even clients who are infected with the virus bringing it into the workplace.
Occupational Health and Safety Obligations of an Employer
Section 8 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) obliges every employer to take reasonable measures to provide and maintain a safe working environment that does not pose a risk to the health of its employees. This obliges the employer to:
- take steps to eliminate or mitigate any hazard or potential hazard, before resorting to protective equipment;
- provide information, instructions, training and supervision that may be necessary to ensure the health and safety of employees at work;
- enforce such measures as may be necessary in the interests of health and safety.
An employer is further prohibited from permitting a person to enter a workplace where the health and safety of such a person is at risk, in terms of the General Safety Regulations published under the OHSA.
An employer may require its employees to undergo medical testing for COVID-19 where:
• the employee has recently traveled to an area in which COVID-19 is prevalent; and/or
• the employee has had recent contact with persons traveling from an area in which COVID-19 is prevalent; and/or
• the employee exhibits symptoms consistent with the known symptoms of COVID-19.
Also Read: 10 ways Startups should be Prepared for the Coronavirus Crisis
The Following Factors that Workplaces need to consider:
- Organizations need to track workforce productivity and the ability to work remotely in real-time
- Companies need to make sure that the employees scale up key enablers
- work protocols (roles and responsibilities, decision rights, issue management)
- processes (communications, workflow)
- technology (network bandwidth, virtual private network [VPN], collaboration tools, video conferences, security)
- people management (health tracking and support)
- Companies should establish periodic calls to employees to track deliverables and productivity
Tips Company Should Deal with Pitching Demands
- Encourage regular hand washing
- Perform routine environmental cleaning
- Encourage Sick Employees to Stay Home
- Talk with Employees about Travel Plans
- Increasing online penetration
- Precautionary measures such as increasing store cleanings
- Encouraging safe distancing among employees
- Reopen offices with fewer employees
- Not reopening underperforming workforce
- Making a rooster plan so that alternative employees come to alternate days.
- Taking forced leave
- Employer should compel an employee, whom he reasonably suspects of having COVID-19, to medical testing
- Employer should dismiss an employee who has contracted COVID-19 based on medical incapacity
- Sick leave entitlements
Open Dialogue with Employees
Employers need to know how to decrease the spread of acute illnesses like coronavirus and lower the impact of COVID-19 in their workplace and share plans with their employees.
Plans should identify and communicate their objectives, which may include one or more of the following:
- reducing transmission among staff
- protecting people who are at higher risk for adverse health complications
- maintaining business operations
- minimizing adverse effects on other entities in their supply chains
It’s important, now, that whatever we do should include: virus severity, the impact of the virus on employees that at higher risk of infection, and possible increased number of employee absences.
Go-To Tips for Employees Getting Back to Work After Lockdown
- Energize the body
- Ensure voluntary physical distancing
- Take care of workplace safeguards (masks, sanitizer, etc.)
- Maintain your aura
- Conserve mental energy
- Find meaning in work — societal, organizational/corporate, client/target, team, and personal
- Focus on solutions
- Set positive aspirations
- Stay focussed
- Build relationships
There’s a saying that the problem could be any big but it always comes with a solution and hence, it’s us who have to find it. For a company to bring on a new normal it has to work smartly. And, I don’t know if this could create a make-believe situation but there is a way:
Remote Work — A New Way of Work
Remote work stands not only for the benefits associated with the involvement of employees, their lower rotation, but also great potential for development. It’s an open-end opportunity to redefine what cooperation between a company and an employee is. How your team works depends more on them, and how you present them with priorities and goals can help them find the best solutions. The goals must be mutual, set, and specified. Thanks to this your team’s motivation to implement them will not decrease because they will know what they’re striving for. If people work together, aiming for one goal, they share responsibility for the project.
Remote work is also an opportunity for other ways of accounting for work, not necessarily for hours worked, but for results. The times when you have to sit in the office to finish the required 8 hours full time are over. This also gives more and more opportunities for businesses that can optimize their costs. You don’t need to maintain an office, equipment, buy coffee, and take care of fruit Thursdays. Just invest in tools that facilitate online work, and there are more and more of them of high quality.
Also Read: List Of Companies Hiring Amidst The Coronavirus Pandemic
A study five years ago showed a 13% increase in productivity when working from home. The reasons stated were the reduced number of breaks and sick leave. Not only work from home, but work from anywhere in the world is gaining more and more votes. By giving employees more freedom, limiting negative practices such as micromanagement, we allow people to grow and release their potential. With greater freedom comes greater responsibility and with it even greater employee involvement in what they do. This is confirmed by the State of Remote Work 2019 report prepared by Owl Labs. According to it, mobile workers with a 13% higher probability won’t want to change jobs for the next 5 years. This is something worth investing in!
Be ready for an operational shock!
So, take care of them and prepare yourself to go back to work once the lockdown ends with a clear mind full of determination!
