Massive social distancing unprecedented in modern humanity is sweeping across the world due to Coronavirus. As a result, employers are trying to figure out how to protect employees while maintaining continuity of business. This has required an immediate shift to work from home, telework and telecommuting. Tens of thousands of companies were under-prepared for these radical changes.
Initially many company leaders anticipated that work from home would last days or weeks. But, based on new and developing information, it is increasingly probable workers will be obligated to work from home for up to one year. “While our response to COVID-19 is already in effect, it will take many months for employers to be able to ensure a safe work environment,” stated Lief Larson of Workface, a provider of productivity software used by employees to work from home.
Larson says key factors determining a return to workplace normalcy include health and safety, projections for exposure, and mitigation through appropriate access to treatment of COVID-19. Until then, there are some things your business can do to help employees. Larson recommends that you give employees a solid video conferencing solution that allows for text chat, holding meetings with colleagues and customers via audio and video, the ability to do screensharing, and the ability to have a digital LDAP-type company directory so employees can see who’s online and have an easy method to reach out to them.
Additional ways to support employees over the next year include potentially providing a stipend for employees to maintain a strong connection to the Internet, which may require upgrading their residential fiber or DSL service, and a potential stipend or reimbursement for their personal mobile phone if that needs to be used to conduct business from home. “If the employees are customer-facing it’s also a really good idea that you encourage them to reach out to customers and let them know how to communicate during the pandemic,” said Larson.
Workface is a work-from-home app that features text chat, audio and video conferencing for holding meetings, screensharing, a company directory to see who is online/offline, and a way for team members to communicate via SMS/text. Workface helps employees work from home, but stay connected and productive throughout the day.
