ONE of the effects of the pandemic is the accelerated developments in remote working tools and applications, resulting in the fast-tracked digitalization of the work force. Some organizations who were hesitant to allow remote working consider it now a necessity to maintain their operations. And while technology now offers multiple possibilities for the work force, post-pandemic realities have presented several challenges for the work force.
Foremost is for employers to provide a safe working environment for their employees. At the onset of the pandemic, some organizations even installed acrylic partitions between employees and even minimized work force attendance to curb the increase in Covid-19 cases. Health monitoring devices were also installed before an employee stepped into the office, and to sign the daily health declaration to screen out potentially sick employees. These might be retained until the end of the year depending on whether we have reached herd immunity.
Organizations also need measures for monitoring, reporting and providing health care to their employees. A few organizations implemented teleconsulting facilities and even developed applications for employees to schedule a consultation with their company doctors. Others included a section for health declaration when employees logged in and even followed through when an employee declared symptoms not necessarily related to Covid-19. When a significant number of employees work from home, teleconsulting will become a need and organizations need to factor this in when they evaluate compensation and benefits for employees.
Even with all these measures in place, it still begs the question regarding those who have yet to be vaccinated. Local government units have started inoculating their communities, and several organizations have made arrangements for their respective vaccination programs. However, not everyone can be compelled to have their vaccine shots especially if they have personal and valid reasons. Organizations need to make careful consideration of when to allow unvaccinated employees return to work without jeopardizing their coworkers and their customers.
One consideration that organizations need to incorporate in their employees’ pay are for those in frontline capacities, or those who regularly interact with many people. There are multiple organizations that provided additional pay for employees who were required to report physically to work to keep operations going even in the midst of a pandemic. Aside from the additional pay, they were also given other benefits as a way of helping them cope with the hazards of going to work, e.g. additional allowances.
Organizations also need to look at their total compensation and benefits to include pandemic-related costs and expenses. When an employee gets sick because of Covid-19, some organizations leave it to their health-care provider to deal with their employees. Or, worse, they do not provide financial support to their employees at all. Organizations need to factor these in and the additional cost of vaccines later when it becomes mandatory to be vaccinated annually.
Curiously, there were issues surrounding the use of leaves during the pandemic. Some organizations, in their bid to cut costs, required people to use up their leaves or used a portion of their employees’ leaves for when employees could not report to work because they could not do so either because of community quarantine restrictions, there was no available public transportation, or any other reason beyond the employees’ control. In these cases, organizations need to provide clear guidelines on the use of leaves and provide alternative ways to work when an employee wants to work and does not want to use their leaves.
Even before the pandemic, employee engagement was already challenging. But with the need to configure remote working conditions and virtual teams, Human Resources faces the challenge of maintaining and improving employee engagement when half of their teams work virtually, and the other half are on-site. The increasing use of virtual platforms also means the blurring of work and home activities which has already upset work-life balance. Employees now want to work in a physical office so there is a clear boundary between work and their personal life. Human Resources needs to look at what works for their organization and complement it with programs to promote that work-life balance.
The biggest challenge facing organizations today is to identify when to require their employees to report to work. There are people who have resigned and joined other companies because they allow for workplace flexibility and provide their employees the option to work from home or report on site. Depending on their products and services, organizations need to carefully deliberate which of their processes needs to be on-site and which ones can be done remotely. With the realization that people can work remotely, more and more employees are resigning and looking for organizations which allow them work flexibility.
Organizations also need to look at the mental well-being of their employees and provide support when needed. Employees have been subjected to more than a year of isolation and limited activities which could result in mental issues which might affect their productivity and efficiency. There are several options available for organizations to develop a program for taking care of their employees’ mental health. Understanding the issues most of their employees go through will help organizations provide a targeted approach to dealing with their mental health, and prevent issues from becoming worse.
The pandemic has highlighted the fact that while technological improvements have made work better and lighter, people are still the most important resource any organization can have. By placing employees first and listening to what they need, organizations are assured that their investment in people will yield to strengthened loyalty, increased discretionary effort, and improved collaboration with others.
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