The lockdown will be over one day and time will come to rejoin our work, but given the nature of the pandemic, everything is about to change.
It's not going to be the same human being you left before the lockdown and I think we're going to see a very gradual opening up of the world.
At the same time you're going to see very changed, people who need to be handled very differently. I don't think life would be the same ever again. We will see more compassionate and humanitarian requirements to deal with.
It's going to be businesses that are more humane that will win and not the ones which focus on performances going forward. We have to keep in mind how do you keep these things together, how do you open your office and keep social distancing while managing your costs. Accept that the same way you worked earlier has changed and make work from home a way of life.
We have to learn how to make sure that your workplace is safe.
We are going to have to really go through a series of steps to ensure that we are complying with those government guidelines, but at the same time, ensuring that our people are safe, and are able to be active as well, because at the end of the day, we have to run a business.
These steps include:
A detailed planning activity, where we need to identify which employees really need to come to work, even after the lockdown is lifted. Others can continue to work from home. That clarity is important.
Companies should ensure transportation for their workers. At the offices there should be a series of checkpoints testing can be done. There should be holding areas for colleagues to ensure that a red flag can be raised if someone's feeling unwell.
We have to ensure there is no crowding in our office spaces, ensure that only 25 or 50% of the workspace is actually occupied.
A similar set of actions need to be done with our support stuff including security guards, receptionists, cafeteria staff. We have to ask if we really need all of them to come into work in the beginning or come in a staggered manner.
We have to take a lot of measures, but to put it in a nutshell we did the following:
We have to controll all transport, from the staff member’s house to the office or to the airport.
The vehicles were sanitized; the drivers were tested before they picked them up.
We had a paramedic to check every single person in the workplace twice a day.
We did shift duties in such a way that the same person doesn't stay in office for a long period of time. So there were five hour rotational shifts that went on.
Then we got a company to sanitise our office.
We tried to make washing of hands fun and a way of life rather than a chore.
In company we have people who are baggage handlers, support staff and they may not understand normal communication. So we have to follow with exercising communication that is easy to understand, that also explained to them the importance of simple things like washing hands wearing masks.
As everyone was running short of PPEs we have to make sure that the clothes our staff wore will be washed and sanitized everyday without fail.
We have to be very particular to be compassionate. We should'nt force the people to come to work, but made it a voluntary system. We have to ask our staff who is willing to come to work and if someone refus we should respect that.
We have to understand it is not that person who is scared but the whole ecosystem at the back end around the individual, which consists of their family. These families could consist of very young children, very old parents etc. Then there is a larger ecosystem with the building or they society they live in.
We've have to create accommodation for our staff, close to the place of work so that they don't have to go back home and antagonize family or neighbors in that process.
These measures, no doubt, are capital intensive, but necessary.
Amidst all this the work processes are slowing down, and expenditure has gone up dramatically. Our sales have gone down drastically, however it is taking double the cost to deliver the product. So this is going to be a vicious cycle and here to stay for a while.
every organization irrespective of its size will have to do "testing, sanitizing" of the workplace, have a doctor available. There will be other elements that are easier for a smaller company, but pose significant challenges for a large company
The focus has to be on enabling work from home, wherever possible, so that it's just a proportion of the employees that are impacted. Even when we open up not everyone will be allowed into office at the same time. You have to create rosters where teams come in at certain times during the day complete their work, and leave. So all of those will have to be taken into consideration and planned out so that we are able to manage this for larger organisation.
It's not going to be the same human being you left before the lockdown and I think we're going to see a very gradual opening up of the world.
At the same time you're going to see very changed, people who need to be handled very differently. I don't think life would be the same ever again. We will see more compassionate and humanitarian requirements to deal with.
It's going to be businesses that are more humane that will win and not the ones which focus on performances going forward. We have to keep in mind how do you keep these things together, how do you open your office and keep social distancing while managing your costs. Accept that the same way you worked earlier has changed and make work from home a way of life.
We have to learn how to make sure that your workplace is safe.
We are going to have to really go through a series of steps to ensure that we are complying with those government guidelines, but at the same time, ensuring that our people are safe, and are able to be active as well, because at the end of the day, we have to run a business.
These steps include:
A detailed planning activity, where we need to identify which employees really need to come to work, even after the lockdown is lifted. Others can continue to work from home. That clarity is important.
Companies should ensure transportation for their workers. At the offices there should be a series of checkpoints testing can be done. There should be holding areas for colleagues to ensure that a red flag can be raised if someone's feeling unwell.
We have to ensure there is no crowding in our office spaces, ensure that only 25 or 50% of the workspace is actually occupied.
A similar set of actions need to be done with our support stuff including security guards, receptionists, cafeteria staff. We have to ask if we really need all of them to come into work in the beginning or come in a staggered manner.
We have to take a lot of measures, but to put it in a nutshell we did the following:
We have to controll all transport, from the staff member’s house to the office or to the airport.
The vehicles were sanitized; the drivers were tested before they picked them up.
We had a paramedic to check every single person in the workplace twice a day.
We did shift duties in such a way that the same person doesn't stay in office for a long period of time. So there were five hour rotational shifts that went on.
Then we got a company to sanitise our office.
We tried to make washing of hands fun and a way of life rather than a chore.
In company we have people who are baggage handlers, support staff and they may not understand normal communication. So we have to follow with exercising communication that is easy to understand, that also explained to them the importance of simple things like washing hands wearing masks.
As everyone was running short of PPEs we have to make sure that the clothes our staff wore will be washed and sanitized everyday without fail.
We have to be very particular to be compassionate. We should'nt force the people to come to work, but made it a voluntary system. We have to ask our staff who is willing to come to work and if someone refus we should respect that.
We have to understand it is not that person who is scared but the whole ecosystem at the back end around the individual, which consists of their family. These families could consist of very young children, very old parents etc. Then there is a larger ecosystem with the building or they society they live in.
We've have to create accommodation for our staff, close to the place of work so that they don't have to go back home and antagonize family or neighbors in that process.
These measures, no doubt, are capital intensive, but necessary.
Amidst all this the work processes are slowing down, and expenditure has gone up dramatically. Our sales have gone down drastically, however it is taking double the cost to deliver the product. So this is going to be a vicious cycle and here to stay for a while.
every organization irrespective of its size will have to do "testing, sanitizing" of the workplace, have a doctor available. There will be other elements that are easier for a smaller company, but pose significant challenges for a large company
The focus has to be on enabling work from home, wherever possible, so that it's just a proportion of the employees that are impacted. Even when we open up not everyone will be allowed into office at the same time. You have to create rosters where teams come in at certain times during the day complete their work, and leave. So all of those will have to be taken into consideration and planned out so that we are able to manage this for larger organisation.
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