5 Tips for Preparing to Return to the Office

5 Tips for Preparing to Return to the Office

For many businesses across the country, workspaces have been lying almost completely dormant for over a year now. Nobody could have predicted that, in March 2020, when we packed up our laptops and worked from the kitchen table, that things would last this long. However, the time is coming when many employers are beginning to open their offices back up and welcome back staff. As exciting as this is, there are many things that have to be considered in order to help make the return as smooth and safe as possible. After almost a year and a half of working from home, many employees may have reservations about returning or even need some encouragement.

In this guide, we’ve taken a look at five steps all employers should be thinking about taking to help prepare for a return to the office.

1. Communicate with and Listen to Employees

As mentioned above, many employees may be resistant to returning to the office, so it might take a little time for the idea to sink in and for them to get on board with it. If you haven’t already, it’s important to ensure you’re communicating with employees about your plans. Whether you’re implementing a new hybrid working policy or are considering heading back into the office in stages, it’s important that you keep your employees abreast of these plans so they can prepare themselves. Remember, some may still be hesitant to head out into public spaces or may even prefer working from their homes, so pulling them out of that routine suddenly and with no communication could cause problems in morale and motivation.

2. Be Conscious of Risks

Regardless of how the Covid-19 pandemic changes, it’s likely that many people’s attitudes towards doing everyday things have altered. Many people are now conscious of sharing spaces with others and touching the same objects, whilst a tickly cough can quickly make people worried and paranoid. As an employer, it’s your job to help ensure precautions are put into place, such as hand sanitiser stations and protective screens where necessary. Further to this, ensure staff are aware that they should stay away if they have symptoms and follow any distancing measures inside your building.

3. Prepare Your Office

If your office has remained completely unused since March 2020, it’ll probably benefit from a spruce up before welcoming employees back in. Office desks and chairs should be set up to meet with any distancing requirements, helping your staff keep safe when they’re working. You should also think about clearing your noticeboards and whiteboards, removing anything you were planning back in 2020 and getting ready for a fresh start when everyone returns to the workplace. You should also consider having desks and office chairs properly cleaned to make the office as comfortable and welcoming as possible, and you can find out how to clean office chairs in our guide.

4. Incentivise Staff

From working in their pyjamas to taking calls whilst making a meal, there might be one or two bad working from home habits that have crept in and make it seem much more alluring than trekking into the office every morning. Offering your staff a few incentives to help encourage them back into the workplace can be a great idea. Whether it’s a ‘welcome back’ care package on their desk or the offer of a free lunch, it’s a good idea to give your team an extra reason to get up early and re-join the rat race. Further to that, try making the steps back to work more gradual. Open the office up and make it voluntary rather than mandatory, as this way staff won’t feel pressurised to come back. After a while you can always make one or two days compulsory and settle on a working pattern that suits you all (see tip one!).

5. Keep On Top of It

Once you’ve reopened your office and staff start to return to the workplace, it’s important to maintain standards and keep on top of things. This means ensuring that things like hand sanitiser and soaps are always stocked up and keeping the office generally clean and safe. You should also continue to check how your employees are feeling about their return to the workplace and monitor your flexible working procedures. Hybrid working from the home and office is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, so getting it right for your staff is very important.

After such a long period away from working in the office, reopening and welcoming staff back in is a big moment. Although you may have been excited and counting down the days to this moment, it’s important to remember that all staff might not be feeling the same, so make sure you take your time and ensure coming back to the office is as pleasant as possible for everyone.