It is June 2020. COVID-19 situation in countries enjoy.ing has offices in is the following: Serbia and Switzerland are keeping some limitations, but measures are relaxing; Romania has State Alert.
enjoy.ing team is conducting a research and it shows our colleagues are mostly satisfied with WFH experience, but would like to go back to the offices. They miss their colleagues, they say.
Challenge alert for enjoy.ing management: we should enable working from the office for those who want it and should determine certain rules, but we should improve the WFH experience for colleagues who’d like to stay at home, too.
Cheers to that.
Let’s get these chairs rolling
Entire enjoy.ing is planning to go back to the offices this Autumn, but there is still no determined date. Next decisions will depend on official recommendations and situation in each country.
However, successive comeback starts in three, two, one…
What does it mean in the situation when COVID-19-related behaviour became everyday pattern?
enjoy.ing welcomes “the new normal” in few modules:
- WFH squad: we’re upgrading home-office experience for them. They’re provided with working chairs, monitor(s), keyboards… Colleagues in the same room will still be missed, but there are pets, noisy neighbours and online communication as an imitation.
- WFO squad: caution is a key word for this team. enjoy.ing won’t fully pack offices. Maximum capacity is 20%, masks are mandatory for close contacts. Not to mention disinfection. We have reduced the use of common areas such as elevators.
WFH/ WFO couldn’t be IT without IT (department)
Let’s play that game for kids. We’ll give you three words and you’ll try to guess what we’re thinking of. Words are: VPN, equipment, support.
That’s right, it is an IT department. At enjoy.ing they are responsible for nudging you to contact help desk. They’re the first stop in case of difficulties. And much more.
Whether you chose to stay at home or to WFO, you cannot miss this guys and situation is almost the same with whole COVID-19 team.
What’s HR got to do with it?
Well, who else will remind you to follow the rules, follow the rules, follow the rules? Who else will design patterns that meet your demands and make sure all of us are acting responsible?
enjoy.ing HR is mixing and matching preferences of our colleagues. During overall WFH period, we did it while trying to fulfil daily to-do-list, plus to cook and have a meal with our family. During semi-WFH, semi-WFO interval, we’ll try to do it even better.
Because, lockdown proved one important thing: good communication with your people is the most valuable item and every company should nurture it in regular or state or state of emergency. Whether you’re sharing memes, information about COVID-19 or clients unexpected cancelation, you must be true to you colleagues.
Welcome to the old-new normal.
Author: Mirjana Parpura Đorđević, HR Director at enjoy.ing
