WITH the easing of restrictions as cases decline, offices that have been on a work-from-home mode are slowly opening again. And employers are spending a lot of time determining how to bring people safely back into the office.
However, in an article in Inc.com, Katie Burke, Chief People Officer of Hubspot, says “health and safety measures aren’t the only aspects of workplaces that need to evolve. “
Instead, “leaders should use this opportunity to part ways with office norms that no longer serve their employees—and maybe never did.”
While it’s natural to want to return to “the way things were,” she suggests that “instead of harping on nostalgia, you need to think about the long-term changes you can make in your office works rather than temporary changes driven by the pandemic.
Burke lists “four things I believe will make the office better if we leave them in the pre-pandemic area in her article 4 Workplace Habits You Shouldn’t Bring Back to the Office Post-Pandemic.” Here are her suggestions on creating a workplace we want in the future.
1. Hosting long and laborious meetings.
While Covid restrictions may force us to rethink meeting rooms, Burke challenges us to rethink the meeting itself. “Let’s make better use of our time and energy by sending a pre-meeting memo and using our time together to align on actions and decisions,” she suggests.
Rather than spending a lot of time on updates, Burke says “considering a Loom video and allowing folks to react and respond asynchronously” may be a better option.
Burke also recommends rethinking of those long and laborious meetings that marked the pre-pandemic era. She cites the National Bureau of Economic research which indicates that the number of meetings per person has risen by 12 percent since the pandemic, yet the average length of a meeting has declined by 20 percent.
“That means that despite people’s calendars booked more often, there’s a bigger appetite for bite-sized meetings over the longer 60 to 90 minute sessions,” she says.
2. Scheduling after-work events
Time was when we would rush to cocktails, dinners, or meetings after office hours. Those of us that belong to several civic and trade organizations would hop from one meeting after another. Remember the time we would plan our workday wardrobes with clothes that would take us from the office and beyond?
The pandemic, of course, has changed all that.
While these events were essentially for bonding and networking and had good points, Burke says, “we have to be more intentional about creating meaningful connections with our colleagues while still allowing folks to keep their life-work balance.”
Instead of events after five, she suggests “to add breaks within the workday—where teams can connect and socialize—that don’t start super early or end late so everyone can attend whether they are in the office or working remotely.
3. Coming to the office when you are sick
Time was when coming in with a high fever was a badge of honor that highlighted our dedication to our work. Not anymore. Today, we all have, as Burke puts it “an existential dread of walking into a conference room with someone who is coughing and sneezing.”
Many companies have guidelines on work protocols, one of which is advising those not feeling well to take a leave and stay home. Others even require those feeling under the weather to report to the clinic.
If your company does not have such guidelines, avoid the office when you have fever, coughs, or colds. “No one should be expected to show up and tough it out, and no one should be rewarded for doing so,” says Burke. “It simply isn’t worth putting other employees and teammates at risk.”
4. Sitting through painful commute times.
With the easing of restrictions, we see traffic building up again. Lines to trains and public transport have become long and winding again, and Edsa is beginning to look, well, like pre-pandemic Edsa. This means longer time in our daily commute, not to mention increased exposure to other people.
In the US, Burke cites a report which states that the average American worker spent 225 hours, or well over nine full calendar days, commuting before the pandemic. Seventy five percent of Americans typically travel by car to get to work, which also has a negative impact on carbon emissions.
She noted that there are “definitely advantages to a commute, including separation between work and home and time to think or read, but for many people, commuting for hours at a time is something they would like to avoid doing every single day.” We couldn’t agree more.
For this, she asserts, “Providing options for employees to work when and where they work best will be the best strategy for hiring and retaining top talent, and less congestion on the road in the process.”
All in all, the return to the office “is an opportunity to rebuild what worked and rethink what didn’t. Regardless of what you choose to keep or leave behind, your strategy should be rooted in empathy, clear communication, and a mission to create a better workplace than the one we left.”
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.