7 ways to support people back to the workplace

As millions of children returned to school across the UK many working parents, grandparents, carers and guardians have felt a mixed bag of emotions; relief, powerlessness, anxiety, vulnerability and loneliness thrown in. Some will also have felt happy, liberated and hopeful. A full spectrum of emotions unique to each individual and their own set of circumstances. After the flurry of activity that was school drop-off thoughts may have focussed on their own journey back to some sense of normality and their return to the workplace whether that be an office, shop, warehouse or factory.

Whilst the world of work may never be the same again with 49% of firms saying they're planning to make remote working a permanent option for roles that allow it and 70% of over 1000 people surveyed saying that there are several factors preventing them from wanting to return (PWC - Reboot getting back to the workplace).

Here are my 7 ways to support your returners back to the workplace after the surreal experience that has been furlough or working in various degrees of isolation at home during a global pandemic.

1. Create a Sense of Certainty

Inform your returners ahead of their proposed return date of any changes to the workplace. The global pandemic has struck at the core of one of our brain's basic needs to regulate our thinking which is the need for 'certainty'. (The SCARF Model, David Rock at The NeuroLeadership Institute) If our brain doesn't know what is going to happen it will make something up, usually something negative. It will go in to it's default mode which is a state of 'threat'. Advise your people ahead of time of any different office layouts, desk arrangements, new recruits, promotions, leavers, structural changes, and COVID-19 Health and Safety Regulations. Managing your people's expectations and giving them as much information as possible will create a sense of certainty and comfort about how things might look and feel in the workplace. Enabling them to be well equipped to cope with the change of returning to work.

2. Informal 1.2.1s

When possible, organise informal 1.2.1s dedicated solely to the topic of returning to the workplace. This creates the time and space to listen to your people's thoughts and feelings and find out 'where they are at' on the topic of returning to work. Individual 1.2.1s provide a confidential opportunity to check-in and allow your team to speak candidly so you can learn, understand, investigate and support your people with any logistical, caring, travel, financial or well-being issues that now exist. If you don't dedicate some time and effort to communicating on an individual basis, sensitive issues may continue under the radar and cause unnecessary stress and anxiety. An informal 1.2.1 can often nip problems in the bud to prevent minor issues from becoming far greater challenges.

3. Coaching

Once you've listened to your team's initial concerns you'll need to consider how well equipped you and your leadership team are to support your people's return to the workplace. Consider using specialist external support such as a Well-being Coach who can free up precious management time and use their specific skill-set to guide your people through making the change. A qualified coach will be able to; remain independent from the organisation, listen for potential concerns, show empathy, support well-being, gently challenge the status quo, investigate options and facilitate solutions to enable change. A coach can add value by collating trends, documenting requests and providing comprehensive management information to leadership. They will be able to help your people to focus on the overriding vision, create a plan, stay out of the detail and the drama and remove any barriers to a happy return to work.

4. Mental Health First Aiders

Now is the time to get your Mental Health First Aiders ready so they are prepared and able to help the wider team. Check in on their own mental health status and how they are feeling about returning to the office. Find out if anything has changed for them. Are they still able to continue in the role of MHFA? Do they understand how the MHFA role has changed in the 'new world'? Are they a bit rusty? Do they need a refresher course to brush up on their knowledge and skills? Do you need to increase the number of MHFA's in your business due to the wider mental health impact of the pandemic? Have there been changes to how external Mental Health organisations operate? There's no point referring employees to an organisation that is no longer there or has very restricted operating hours. Give the MHFA's some time and space away from their day job to assess what they now need to be able to fulfil the MHFA role as people return to the workplace.

5. Flexibility

The pandemic has led to a greater need for empathetic policies, working practices and cultures. Flexibility needs to become the new normal as the rule book about how things used operate has largely been ripped up. The pandemic has shown that with the use of appropriate technology remote working can be a viable option for many roles across the hierarchy of an organisation. How we do things looks different now. Continue with the ethos of empathy, flexibility and fairness as you review your working practices and give people time to adjust to returning to work. People may appreciate simple effective strategies to ease their return such as; staggered start times to avoid the rush, a phased return to full-time hours, or extra breaks so they can reconnect with colleagues they haven't seen in person for a while.

6. Give your people a voice

As well as Mental Health First Aiders, investigate what other internal support systems can be utilised and implemented. Ask your people if a buddy system could benefit them as they return to the workplace; providing them with a trusted colleague so they can talk in confidence to support their reintroduction to the world of work? Ask if the team would benefit from some dedicated time from the leadership team to outline the strategy and future of work particularly what it means in your organisation in the coming months? Essentially give your people a voice by asking them what internal processes, communication, systems and technology could help.

7. Decision Making

Overall, if you make management decisions with the best interests of your people's well-being, balance, health and safety and optimum mental health in mind you won't go far wrong.

Charlotte Goodban is a qualified Executive Well-being and Career Coach with a professional background in Human Resources.

If you need any further guidance to support your people to return to work don't hesitate to drop me a line at coaching2change@outlook.com

Copyright 2021 Charlotte Goodban