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The advent of COVID-19 requires organizations to adapt their work methods to ensure everyone’s health and safety, while continuing to serve their clientele well.
A business has a responsibility to safeguard the health of everyone in the work environment at all times. We are currently experiencing an extraordinary situation caused by COVID-19, which requires exceptional precautions.
Here are some steps you can take to keep your operations safe.
Protect your staff by adjusting the way you work
It’s important to remind employees of the right habits to adopt to keep everyone healthy, such as the measures suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), like washing your hands often, avoiding handshakes, etc.
However, in the case of the current coronavirus situation, additional measures must be taken:
- If it’s possible for your organization to do so, opt for teleworking;
- Limit all outside travel;
- Reorganize tasks within your teams;
- For meetings with your clients and partners, promote videoconferencing or reduce the number of participants;
- Use all the technology at your disposal to pursue your activities remotely;
- If your staff has to be present on site for customer service, consider team rotation.
Stay on top of the situation
An organization should have a contingency plan for crisis situations, applicable in the case of COVID-19. This could include governance measures, such as:
- Establishing a strategic evaluation committee;
- Identifying priority operations;
- Identifying additional resources that can compensate for staff shortages;
- Having training tools;
- Having an absence management policy;
- Planning regular communications with your staff.
These measures prevent large-scale contamination and ensure your organization’s ongoing operations.
Employers’ responsibilities and employees’ rights
All organizations have an obligation to protect the health and safety of their workers on their work premises. While they may be required to respect their employees’ privacy, employers have the right to enquire about their health in this specific situation of the coronavirus. Employers must also take into account the recommendations of governments and the WHO, which call for preventive quarantine of an employee returning from an international trip.
We invite you to consult these official sources of information on a regular basis in order to monitor the situation and adapt your organization’s policies as developments occur.