After more than a year of remote work brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers are starting to reopen their offices—and workers have mixed feelings. Whether your team is returning to the office full-time or just a few days per week, this change to their new daily routines can feel daunting. How can you as a business & brand lessen the stress that comes with this change?
Promote Sanitary Practices in the Office
This historical global event has ingrained in our human culture a focus on the importance of health and safety. As a human population we have adapted to these circumstances and changed the way not only in which we interact with our physical environment, but also in the way we do business, purchase products, socialize, work out, and even more. What we have come to realize is that as humans we are resilient and able to adapt; these new routines we have adopted will not simply disappear. Ensuring that individuals feel comfortable and clean coming into the office is imperative for optimal efficiency and transition.
PPE & Sanitary Items
Ensure your office is readily equipped with PPE & sanitary items including but not limited to: sanitizer, surface cleaner, disposable & non-disposable masks, gloves, face shields, sanitary wipes & more. Score Promotions has a deep inventory of in-stock PPE & sanitary items.
Floor Decals
Social distancing and safety measures are key factors when it comes to keeping our peers healthy and happy during unprecedented times. Bring a little comfort to everyday interactions with a selection of readymade decals. We have become so accustomed to road markings and signs that we forget how vital they are to ensure we maintain order. Emblems, decals, floor stickers work and need to be adapted into our retail environments and our office spaces.
Promote Company Culture
Organizational culture is defined by the collective norms of behavior exhibited by the individuals within an organization. Although a large percentage of the workforce has adapted to working remotely, face-to-face still matters because it creates rapport and trust. When you are with a person you can build a relationship and read their non-verbal cues. Just being there shows that you made the effort to come. Similarly, people find meaning in their daily rituals of getting ready to leave home, commuting, grabbing their coffee mugs, and filling their water bottles before sitting at their desks.
The act of returning to the office for work will inevitably change the adapted culture and routine of the working individual. Culture change is difficult but rewarding. When it is thrust on you, as it had been at the beginning of the pandemic, it can feel sudden and overwhelming. With reflection and deliberation, however, organizational leaders can extract much that is positive from what we have all been through these past months. Getting together with key stakeholders and managers as an organization and redefining what inherently makes up your company's culture is pivotal. What are your values? What makes your team unique? What makes your team strong?
Swag and other branded products are used to promote company culture and values. Positive brand messaging can be displayed on branded apparel, desktop items & tech accessories - items that get regularly used and viewed throughout the day, thus, reinforcing your messaging.
Practice Self-Care Amid Change
As COVID-19 vaccination rates rise and lockdowns come to an end, the return to the workplace may seem daunting for those who’ve been largely working from home since the start of the pandemic. As an organization, you must be compassionate with your team members in understanding that adapting to new routines and circumstances is difficult and that feelings of stress and anxiety associated with change are normal, especially given the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic. Exercising, eating well, practicing meditation, and keeping a routine all promote positive physical and mental health and will help reduce the stress and anxiety associated with change. Implementing wellness programs for your employees or taking regimented times throughout the day to promote mental health awareness can be a great mood booster for your team.
Gifting your employees with branded items that reinforce these positive practices that reduce stress & anxiety is a great idea for your next internal HR or marketing campaign. Wellness & mental health promotion leads to positive business results by empowering your team to be the best version of themselves in the workplace.
The Moral of The Story
A well-planned return to offices can use this moment to reinvent their role and create a better experience for talent, improve collaboration and productivity, and reduce costs. During the awareness-raising stage, business owners need to make a real effort to engage people. That means not just sending out a single all-staff email but actually taking the time to explain what the plan means from a practical perspective and how it applies to employees’ everyday work. That kind of change will require transformational thinking grounded in facts. Ultimately, the aim of this reinvention will be what good companies have always wanted: a safe environment where people can enjoy their work, collaborate with their colleagues and achieve the objectives of their organizations.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Q. How Weekly Team Meetings Can Benefit Your Workplace?
A. There are many benefits that meeting as a team in person or virtually can have on your business. Some ways that weekly meetings are helpful in allowing individuals to still feel connected, team members can brainstorm together, everyone gets to ask questions, building and maintaining company morale, keep the overall goals of the company at the forefront.
Q.How can be hiring interns in this new year benefit business?
A. If your company does not have the resources to onboard new staff, but needs help in a particular field, partnering with a local school that has an internship requirement can be a great solution. Many programs only require a student to complete a certain number of hours and this can be a great way for your company to get some help and bring fresh ideas by interns to the company.