Florida is opening for business! People will be focusing on conducting business with new health protocols and working on recovering from the challenges of the shut-down. But now is the time to also be considering lessons learned and how to develop and implement policies, plans, and procedures that can address some of the challenges faced during the pandemic and during the phase-in stages of getting back to work.
Early on in the health emergency it was clear to me that one of the likely consequences of virtual work would be that if people were successful at accomplishing goals while working at home they may request to spend less time at a brick-and-mortar location. Consider whether this makes sense for your business then ask yourself some questions:
o Do you have a comprehensive work-at-home policy and employee agreement that addresses home office safety for worker’s comp?
o Can you identify positions in your company that may be suited to on-going telecommuting? You will have to equitably offer telecommuting as an option to everyone with that job title, so you may need to consider organizational structure changes with modified job descriptions if everyone is not suited for work at home.
o Are your supervisors trained to manage virtual workers? Managers should know how to delegate work and create goals with specific measurements and/or deliverables – for staff who work at home and at your place of business.
To get you started, I have attached a short-term telecommuting agreement, for you to use now with employees who may or may not work from home in the future. Download the Short-Term Telecommuting Agreement Template
Ann Beecham is a Senior HR Consultant with Newland CPI with over 15 years in the human resources field. She is also an adjunct instructor for Valencia College’s School of Continuing Education, providing professional development to executive and emerging leaders.
