Key Factors Facility Managers Should Consider Before Employees Return to Work

1. Preparing a building for re-entry after a pandemic outbreak requires a whole lot of careful considerations and preparations. Factors like well-being and health of the occupants are the areas of key focus. In times of a viral outbreak the preparation for a re-entry includes but is not limited to the traditional risk assessments. Let us take a look at the few things that facility managers need to consider as they plan a return of their employees in a post Covid-19 world.

2. This is recognized as one of the most important protocols to prevent Covid-19. Circulation paths are traditionally known to have been the primary methods for employees to reach their workplaces and at the same time these act as one of the primary areas of employee interaction. The modern open office spaces offer opportunities for interaction with the help of a wide variety of common spaces that contribute to the overall energy flow of any workspace. During the times of the pandemic, this however brings in a lot of challenges. Organizations will be looking forward to limiting the interaction of the employees while enforcing social distancing norms in order to be able to create the best possible environment for employee health and safety. To begin with, the first hurdle that is needed to be considered would be helping employees to and from their workplaces ensuring the lowest possible chances of physical interaction. The areas of concern in this regard are the common points like elevators or lifts, staircases, escalators, lobbies, reception areas, break rooms and the like. In order to enable safe social distancing as people enter and exit a building, careful planning of the occupant density and traffic flow is needed to be done. Minute details like the building floor, workspace level and the like might be needed to be explored in order to create a safe space for all the occupants.

3. A lot of organizations will be viewing the return of work as a gradual process where they will allow employees to come to the office in shifts based on the requirement. Agile and flexible work strategies where a few employees have assigned workstations while others select their workstations as per their requirement will allow facility managers to reduce the occupant density and also use available work floors on rotation. This will also make it possible to sanitize and clean the selected workstations as needed. A recent study says, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, around 13 percent of the employees used to work from remote locations. As per Gartner, remote working will be increasing across different industries as stay at home orders will get lifted gradually. At least one in twenty-five CFOs will be leaving 50 percent of their workforce to work from home. Employees now are also looking out for flexible work conditions. After having experienced the facilities of working from home, 50 percent of the employees are of the view that they would be more productive if they will be working from home. Some employees also might not have the option to return to work on account of the widespread closure of schools throughout the end of the year. Populations that are more vulnerable might be still sceptical about getting exposed to Covid-19. By offering extended work from home options, organizations can build employee trust. Facility managers who work closely with the HR in formulating strategies will be effective in securing the morale, engagement and loyalty of their employees. By offering flexible desk strategies, facility

4. managers can find opportunities to consolidate their action items. In the future, when social distancing becomes less of a concern, organizations can go ahead and change their occupant densities while eliminating the risks of reducing portfolio. Maintenance and monitoring: while you are planning a phased return to a safe and healthy workplace for your employees, you need to consider the key performance indicators so that you are able to evaluate the measures that you have taken. This way you can ensure compliance and identify the deficiencies and also monitor the consequences of any change in plan. Data required to monitor might be available from the existing repositories while on the other hand they can be accessed from a facilities management app or a facility management software. These apps offer instant access to building and equipment information and helps facility managers monitor data from any remote location by just a tap on their mobile devices. Just like monitoring key performance indicators is essential, at the same time you are also required to implement the analytics and at the same time deliver insights into data driven decisions. Planning implementation of a return to work program might seem challenging in the beginning, but once you plan things ahead of time and prepare your team to execute the plans as decided, you can ensure a safe and healthy workplace to your employees.