Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has inevitably forced business executives across the globe to take a step back and revise their leadership strategies to successfully guide teams through the “new normal” of remote work. But as conversations increasingly turn towards reopening, and with it, returning to the workplace, the next hurdle they face will be safely and effectively leading employees back into a space where day-to-day practices will look drastically different to what they once were.
Sanitation worker checking the temperature of employees before entering their workplace. Guard in ... [+]
Oisin Hanrahan, CEO, and Co-Founder of home services platform Handy, recommends a few baseline measures be taken to prioritize safety in the workplace better. Make safety guidelines easily accessible and actionable. Suppose you want to see employees adopt new safety measures in their day-to-day routines. In that case, guidelines should be shared in a convenient, digestible way and minimize overall workflow disruption. For example, at Handy, Pros are required to complete a 7-point mobile checklist via the Handy app to confirm they have taken the necessary safety precautions before engaging in a job, including wearing appropriate protective gear, maintaining six feet of distance from others, and staying home if they are sick or suspect infection.
Incentivize your employees to err on the side of caution. As an essential worker, it can be particularly tempting to put your job before your health. With this in mind, make sure company guidelines are set so that employees are discouraged from taking an unnecessary risk and are given a safety buffer that allows them to confirm their health before returning to the workplace.
One example would be to provide guaranteed sick leave if an employee does not feel well. In doing so, members will feel more comfortable taking the needed time to check on their health status before going back to work, thereby avoiding putting themselves and their coworkers at risk. Provide your employees with the necessary PPE. An additional safety precaution would be to provide your workforce with baseline PPE equipment where possible (mask, gloves, sanitizer, etc.). If you want employees to abide by new protective equipment requirements in the workplace, whether wearing a mask or using gloves in the workplace, providing these resources upfront will help ensure compliance.
Hanrahan has already implemented these measures within his own company, which oversees a marketplace of 250,000 service professionals who perform essential services for homeowners, such as cleaning, repairing, and installations. “Company leaders need to educate and communicate new health and safety expectations to employees,” said Hanrahan. “It’s important to then provide them with access to tools and resources, whether that be PPE or safety guidelines, to help them ease into this new transition, and more importantly, allow them to make smarter decisions about safely performing their job and prioritizing their health accordingly.”
Whether you work in a high touch space like home services or a regular office setting, team safety should ultimately stay top of mind. Each workplace will come with its own set of needs, but taking the above measures will provide a solid starting point as safety guidelines from leadership teams become table stakes.
