What awaits organisations and employees on the Pathway out of Restrictions?

The NI public are once again awaiting Stormont’s next COVID announcement. This time it is regarding the next stages of the “Pathway out of Restrictions,” with the next announcement due on 15th April.

Boris Johnson has made it abundantly clear that he wants to see our city centres “full of buzz and life and excitement again.”  This return to “normality” will begin with civil servants, with a phased-in return to the office from 12 April. The PM’s optimistic vision is despite the fact that “work from home where possible” guidance will remain in place until at least May, never mind the debate and dilemmas around vaccination passports and human rights. The form that this return to “normality” will take remains unclear…

There is no doubt the government is keen for the UK workforce to be back at their desks as soon as possible, accelerating out of lockdown to kick start the economy. We are seeing similar trends throughout the world. Countries such as Australia have led the way in effectively managing COVID and actively pushing and successfully encouraging public servants and businesses to return or partially return to their central business districts enabling a rejuvenation of their local economies. With many of these business districts starting to feel the buzz of workers back to buying lunches at busy cafes and a bit of lunchtime retail therapy thrown in for good measure.

There are very mixed views on this subject with some of our locally owned firms having already shifted to a long-term hybrid plan of both office and home working, pointing to cost savings and higher productivity. But in the absence of an office-based physical workspace and the day-to-day interactions that often spark new ideas, we run the risk of diminishing levels of creativity and innovation. Home working can recapture the time lost to commuting and its flexibility is conducive to productivity, as well as home-life balance. However, a number of the benefits of face-to-face working may be lost, particularly face to face social interactions and innovation.

Notwithstanding the great benefits of hybrid working, our local politicians need to proceed with caution and ensure they take steps to protect our locally owned cafes, restaurants, bars, shops and the real estate within our towns and cities. This is an interesting time to be involved in the “world of work”, but it is not without its challenges for businesses and HR professionals. There is a collective social responsibility to ensure we achieve the right balance of employee engagement and at the same time protect the interests of innovation. We need to proactively support our locally owned business neighbours from the convenience of the large online retailers. Not least safeguard our employees from the future mental health shackles thrust upon a future generation of home alone zoom-ers dependent upon an endless stream of home deliveries of food and consumables. Will we see bold and innovative measures such as the introduction of new digital sales tax on online purchases to help revive our local high street retailers? Let’s wait and see how well our Executive is listening to the voice of businesses as we all anxiously await the unveiling of business focused interventions on 15th April!

 

What do you need to do?

Think People can help you plan your organisation’s return to the office, implementation of hybrid working or implementation of long-term working from home. We provide hands-on advice and support in:

• Updating contracts, HR policies and procedures
• Employee engagement pulse surveys: What works for your organisation and people?
• Reorganisation and redundancies
• Employee relations issues which arise during changes
• Change management strategy
• Optimising performance in hybrid or home working
• Management skills development relating to leading hybrid and homeworking teams