Three Best Practices For Leaders To Roll Out Covid-19 Employee Protocols In 2022

Values, technology and open communications are keys to getting to the “next normal”

Company leadership, employees, and their customers have experienced a true shock to the system over the past 22 months. The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has given the world of work a painful dose of uncertainty. That word, “uncertainty” has—unfortunately—been the catalyst of change across our economy. Governments are uncertain about the best ways to combat the spread of Covid-19. Corporations are uncertain about how to keep their employees and customers safe. Employees are uncertain if their jobs are secure and if it’s safe to go back to work. Customers are uncertain about the safety of shopping, going to restaurants, and doing the things they’re used to doing. 

Companies and the Courts

This uncertainty is heightened further considering the detection of the omicron variant of concern in 30 states and Washington, D.C. The federal appeals courts have been going back and forth on the legality of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) mandates and, as it stands now, the mandated vaccination for companies with 100 or more employees is back on. With that said, it’s still interesting to note that there’s still a level of uncertainty about the mandates considering the case hasn’t gotten to its inevitable destination, the U.S. Supreme Court.
 

However, even with the mandate working its way through the courts, a recent survey found 57% of employers now already require or plan to require Covid-19 vaccinations before their employees return to work. How will employees respond? What effect will that have on their customers? We’ll have to wait and see how the new year (and beyond) unfolds, but this uncertainty has caused many businesses to shelve plans to return to pre-Covid work schedules.  

Values, Technology, and Communication

Confronting uncertainty calls for steady, fundamental principles and useful actions that company executives, HR, and line managers can take. How? Based on our work with companies of various sizes and in a multitude of sectors, we see three ways to help. Establishing strong corporate values provides that “guiding light” to help us navigate through uncertain times. Embracing technology provides a means to address new problems with cutting-edge solutions (the modern workforce uses technology on a daily basis for work and recreation, so why not leverage that skillset?). Ensuring your employees and customers are informed about your Covid-19 response plans is a no-brainer. Here are three best practices you can employ to keep your employees engaged and to limit uncertainty in 2022:   

1. Establish Strong Values

Every organization should have some type or set of values that keep the organization moving forward, demonstrate how they accomplish their mission and goals and acts as a differentiator from their competition. However, it’s not only a means to solidify the organization’s external standing, but it also shows their employees, vendors, and other internal stakeholders what’s truly important. For example, two of our company’s values speak to (1) working towards common goals and (2) looking for unconventional solutions to extraordinary problems. With these values already in place, we’re poised to work together and ensure our employees are safe during the pandemic. Having these types of values already in place ensures we’re grounded by what is important and not constantly searching for the “right” thing to do when unforeseen circumstances arise.  

2. Embrace Current and New Technology

Our customers are telling us that there is a high level of anxiety around OSHA’s vaccine mandate and testing requirements. There are also concerns about privacy and personal health information (PHI) security within organizations across the county and in every sector. To help address some of these concerns we help them learn and, more importantly, embrace technology solutions to these problems. These solutions help manage the uncertainty in the testing and vaccine card (smart vs. paper) requirements as well as maintaining strong levels of security of PHI and HIPAA compliance. Even though many organizations aren’t in complete control of how the mandates will ultimately work, many are embracing this type of technology to help with the logistics and planning so they’re at least ready to implement the new requirements based on their industry. 

3. Ensure Communication Lines Are Always Open

It’s vital to your employees and customers that you keep communication lines open—especially during a pandemic! But this can’t just be “we have an open-door policy” and then they don’t hear from you for weeks. It has to be serious and meaningful. Open lines of communication should be available on multiple platforms and where people are. Leadership, sales, technical support, etc. all have to be ready, willing, and able to answer questions, reply to concerns, and get people what they need when they need it. Stay engaged using regularly scheduled touch-base meetings, check-ins, newsletters, emails, etc. These methods (and others) can help people get through these unsettling times. Maintain a positive outlook and it will be appreciated. Remember, it’s not just about the physical health of your employees and customers, but also about their mental wellbeing.

What’s Next?

Establishing values, embracing technology, and ensuring communication lines are open are powerful steps to leading your organization to the “next normal.” That next normal could be surprisingly similar to what we were used to pre-Covid-19, or it could be something we’ve never seen before. Normal is in the eye of the beholder. What’s most important is that you have fundamental principles and useful tools in your organization that are embodied by your organization’s leadership, embraced by your employees, and appreciated by your customers. These principles can then be relied on to lessen uncertainty in 2022 and beyond.

Sid Bala is the President of Calcium. As a seasoned leader with more than 30 years of technology experience, Sid previously served as the Founder and CEO of alligatortek. Under Sid’s leadership, the company was recognized as a best-in-class partner, employer, and innovator. Visit www.calciumhealth.com  Connect Sid Bala