Return to offices: lessons from other countries

In recent months, companies have lived through a strange and disruptive period at the same time. With offices closed, dispersed teams and altered strategies, organizations had to shake up to reinvent their business and the way they operate. With the easing of the social distance phase, some companies have already turned on the return to offices. However, there are clearly many uncertainties in the air.

In almost every company around the world, leaders and employees are wondering how to work safely in their traditional workplaces. However, there are good examples and lessons from countries that have already gone through the resumption after lockdown.

In this article, we will cover lessons, in addition to examples and tips, for HR to help the company resume work safely. Check out!

How to deal with uncertainties in the return to the offices?

Despite so many uncertainties, there is evidence: the return to offices and commerce must focus on employee safety. The first measure on the agenda, therefore, is to make the work environment protected, avoiding the circulation of the virus as much as possible.

Nevertheless, the organization must also observe other factors that are connected to the crisis, such as the employee’s mental health, possible brand repositioning, cash flow and behaviors in the workplace. These are huge tasks for companies of all sizes.

In the case of Brazil, there is yet another very important detail: legal uncertainty. There was no alignment between federal, state and municipal public policies. While one released the reopening of trade, the other barred. Therefore, HR must pay attention to technical details of decrees, ensuring that the return to activities is within the legal framework.

Covid-19 in other countries

To look for examples of how European governments handled the resumption of business after the first wave of Covid-19, we interviewed two VAGAS.COM employees working in the Old Continent: Human Resources specialist Ligia Hacker, who lives in Germany, and Wesley Barreto, financial controller, who lives in Spain.

Professionals report organizational and public policies that have made the work environment and return to offices safer. They also draw comparisons between the Brazilian scenario and the context in which they live, observing some peculiarities that can serve as lessons for us to follow in the national territory.

Return to office lessons

The numbers of contamination cases and, mainly, the lethality data, in Germany, were considered low in comparison to the indexes of other countries. Second survey by Johns Hopkins University, more than 229 thousand cases were registered, with 9,249 deaths.

Spain, for its part, faced another reality. Between March and April, the country, along with Italy, registered the highest rates of contamination and, mainly, deaths in Europe. According to Covid-19 map, created by Johns Hopkins University, Spain recorded more than 370 thousand cases and 28,797 deaths.

With the improvement, Germany began, little by little, to resume activity in May and Spain at the end of the same month. Let’s look at some pandemic labels adopted in both countries.

Employee safety first

Ligia reports that at the company where her husband works, in Berlin, rules have been established for returning to offices. Occupation, for example, was limited to just 30%. “Therefore, there is a rotation of employees and, on a monthly basis, a reassessment is made for a possible change in this occupation”, he explains.

The Human Resources specialist clarifies that the company provides extensive internal communication on processes of hygiene, protection and social distance. In addition to this policy, the cleaning places called “hygienic corners”, the distribution of free masks for everyone and guidance on when to use them or not. “Employees can remove their masks while they are in their stall, but when they get up to move around the company they must wear them again,” he says.

In addition, adds the professional, the company has increased the spacing of the stalls and the employees’ dining area is operating with distance between places. Every week, managers have to answer a questionnaire informing if there are people walking without protection, if something is missing and how the professionals are doing.

In Spain, Wesley explains, the companies’ protocol is standard, following guidelines from the federal government. The recommendations are very similar to those in Brazil. “It was recommended that the offices plan to maintain a minimum distance of two meters between employees, organize the entry of people into the offices to avoid crowds, carry out temperature control, motivate the use of gel alcohol in their hands and wear masks”, emphasizes.

According to the VAGAS.COM employee, the government also strongly encouraged companies to adopt a home office policy and hold virtual meetings.

In trade, explains Wesley, the rule is similar to the Brazilian model. “The recommendation is to put alcohol in gel before entering the establishments and keep your distance, often organizing the entry of people to avoid crowding”.

Unification of government rules

If in Brazil we are witnessing a scenario of discord between the policies adopted against the new coronavirus in government spheres, in Germany, there was unification of the speeches. “Throughout the pandemic, the authorities were very aligned. We perceive a pattern of behavior in decisions, although the states are free to act a little differently, as in the case of back to school ”, points out the executive at VAGAS.COM.

“Spain, like Brazil, reacted late and, therefore, the situation became very critical”, highlights Wesley. However, explains the controller, when the country responded to the crisis, there was unification in the federal government’s power of command.

“While in Brazil we have federal, state and municipal governments, Spain has a“ Federal ”(country) government division, Autonomous Communities (“ States ”), Provinces and Municipalities (cities)”, he comments. The professional explains that there is the central figure of the Minister of Health in Spain, but the autonomous communities are responsible for coordinating the health system and its police.

“Thus, when the state of public calamity (“ Estado de Alarma ”) was decreed, the federal government took control of everything – police, hospitals and even some factories. Even companies that had stockpiles of materials that could be used to combat Covid-19 had to communicate their supplies to the government. ”

But, of course, the political situation also suffered disruptions in that process. Wesley comments that there were some dissatisfactions, leaders of the autonomous communities lost power on some fronts. “But, in general, I think the government was able to come together for the actions and outline clear paths for people. Not 100%, of course, but I think it was better conducted than in Brazil so far ”, he stresses.

Commuting from home to work

The Spanish central government also made some recommendations to employees before going to work. The first was to guarantee that they would go to the workplace only if they did not show any symptoms.

The government also recommended the home office to people belonging to the risk group or who had contact with someone diagnosed with the virus.

Furthermore, on the way to work, it was recommended to give preference, whenever possible, to transportation options with a minimum distance of two meters between people, in addition to the mandatory use of masks. “In general, the staff respects it, although there are also those who put the mask on their chin”, jokes the executive of VAGAS.COM.

And a curiosity: during the general confinement (lockdown), even inside the cars, the Spaniards needed to follow a certain distance, with one in the front driving and the other in the back seat. “Going out with two people in the car was also an exception,” explains Wesley.

Preparing for new waves

In Germany, says Ligia, for the time being, at least in the company where her husband works, a possible alert about a second wave of spread of the virus has not been communicated. However, explains the executive, everyone is attuned to the return of summer vacation, which happened in mid-August.

“My children’s school has already warned that, at any time, it may have a lockdown and will be ready to operate [nessas condições], if that is the case. The institution has already sent rules on how distance learning should work, in case it is necessary again ”, he stressed.

In Spain, the new wave of contamination is already happening, according to the report of the VAGAS.COM employee. “There is already a second increase in cases in several regions, but things are working, in general. Often, I even find normal behavior on the street strange. It doesn’t even seem like everyone was stuck at home a short time ago ”, he analyzes.

Care with impacts on the economy

“This is a regional lockdown, perhaps because the government is very concerned about not losing the summer season, which is very important economically for Spain”, explains the executive.

With the increase in cases, some countries, such as the United Kingdom, placed quarantine restrictions for travelers who were in Spain, which was a big step given the relevance of tourism, especially among the English.

The professional also points out that the government’s assistance system, with basic income distribution, is widely used by people and companies to reduce the financial impact of the crisis. However, this financial contribution led to an increase in public debt. “In Spain, the European Union is going to inject a lot of money to resume the economy, with the bases of economic reconstruction in green economy and digitalization”, underlines Wesley.

In fact, the Covid-19 crisis strengthened not only in the European Union, but throughout the world, the foundations for a more sustainable and digitalized economy. Experts of the Future of Work guarantee that the flexibility of the home office, the virtualization of meetings and the consequent reduction of CO2, with fewer cars on the street, are trends that will remain post-pandemic. And does anyone doubt?

Interested in the content? Therefore, do not miss a report on the reintegration of professionals from the risk group into business.