Creating an internal task force around return to the workplace

Many organizations have taken a wait-and-see approach around plans to return to the office, particularly as COVID-19 cases spike some states.

Whether a percentage of your workforce has returned to the office, or will remain remote in the short or long-term, this is an issue that employees have questions around—and you need to be prepared to answer.Regardless of your organization’s timetable to returning to the physical office, waiting to create an internal task force on this issue is not recommend. Preparation, regardless of when the return will happen, is critical.

J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., a Wisconsin company that advises organizations in creating safe, productive and compliant workplaces, originally developed a comprehensive pandemic plan during the H1N1 pandemic, says Susan Baranczyk, corporate communications strategist. This was last updated in January of this year when coronavirus began to spread.

Before the pandemic, 400 of J.J. Keller’s 1,500-strong workforce already worked at home. During the stay-at-home order in its home state of Wisconsin, the company extended that to 90% of the workforce. Even as that was happening, J.J. Keller was already drawing up the return-to-work protocols and preparing for developments further on.