Considerations for the Office Return

by Miriam Hanna, Director MadlinHanna Consulting

Warren and I have been back in the office once a week for the last few weeks and I honestly can’t explain how much of a difference it has made! I was never a working from home person and lockdown reminded me why! I thrive off the engagement of a team and dare I say it, the commute book-ended my day perfectly. It gave me time to read and prepare for the day or wind down ready to rest. I am sure I won’t be alone in saying that the bleeding of the working day into the evening has not been good for mental health. As we speak to more companies and teams planning to return to the office, I thought it would be good to share some important considerations for that transition.

It has to be practical

Even when advice around public transport changes, there will still be nervousness from a lot of people about getting on tubes, trains and buses. For companies based in larger buildings, lift use is going to be really problematic as social distancing rules remain. Have a think about offering flexible working hours and giving people time slots to reduce the need to travel and enter the office at the most congested times. If staff live close enough, half days in the office can be a really good middle ground. You don’t want anxiety around the practicalities of getting back into the office to distract from having a productive day.

It has to be balanced

To make a sweeping generalisation, senior people with space to have a proper work set up have fared much better than their more junior colleagues in central-London flat-shares. There is a chance that the office will split in two with the former group opting to remain at home and the latter getting into the office more regularly. This isn’t going to work long-term. Juniors learn by osmosis and need to be surrounded by experience to learn.  Obviously, no one should be forced into the office but just be mindful that teams get the support they need if their managers and leaders are still working remotely.

It has to feel safe

Fundamentally, no one is going to go in the office unless they feel it is safe. There needs to be regular dialogue about what that means for different team members. You might have staff with vulnerable family members for example, who will require more reassurance and support. Designate one person or a team in the office to be on top of government regulations and the changing advice to make sure the office is constantly adhering to those guidelines. Communicate those adjustments all the way through.

As the government advice adjusts and changes, the dialogue of what the office means in the future will be brought to the forefront of company discussions. We have to be OK that there will be mistakes made but they must learnt from and corrected quickly.

MadlinHanna Consulting is a recruitment consultancy specialising in corporate affairs, covering public affairs, corporate communications and financial PR. Contact us on 020 8088 4102 for more information or a confidential conversation.