COVID-19 changed many employees’ work routines, both in positive and negative ways. As a result of long-term remote working, many companies are considering introducing hybrid working models, giving staff the option of combining working from home with going into the office.

In this article, I discuss how to support some of the positive habits, employees developed in lockdown, as they adapt to hybrid working.

Get plenty of feedback
With so much disturbance caused by the pandemic, employees’ expectations around work, may have changed dramatically. Now is the ideal time to reflect on your experiences as a company and determine what positives you want to keep as restrictions ease.

If businesses choose to run a workplace forum or survey, it’s important to get people’s views on what they feel to be the best ways of working. Employee surveys and forums can help build trust between a company and its staff, improve wellbeing, and get decisions made more quickly.

Before running any survey or forum, ensure employees know why they are taking the survey. Reassure them of confidentiality so they don’t feel concerned about participating.

It can be time-consuming to look at personalised, written feedback but this enables managers to isolate the main themes and topics and build a bank of positive and negative responses.

Everyone in the business should receive relevant information about the results and what’s going to be done with the feedback. When employees realise their feedback had an effect, they’ll be more likely to participate in the future.

Healthy eating
Something as simple as not having to spend time commuting every day gave people more time to plan and cook healthier meals during lockdown.

As staff begins to spend some days, back in an office environment, we need to make sure we still support healthier nutrition choices. Checking employees are informed of healthy eating campaigns – like Veganuary or National Cholesterol month in October – is an excellent starting point.

Keep them up to date with posters around the office or with reminders in weekly, internal e-newsletters. Ensure office kitchen or dining areas still have all the necessary utensils and equipment for people to store and prep their own meals.

MicroMarkets are also becoming increasingly popular as a catering solution for today’s hybrid workplaces. These are compact, self-serve stores that provide fresh, healthy food and drink 24/7.

Automated and requiring no staff, MicroMarkets are at the cutting edge of enterprise catering solutions. They are also a great way to guarantee you keep lower- calorie, vegetarian, vegan, or other healthy options for employees to access easily.

For those that are continuing to work from home, why not consider offering discounts to your employees instead? Working with a third-party supplier, means you could provide employees with reductions from local eateries or catering services.

Let’s get physical
During the national lockdown, ‘let’s go for a walk’ became the new ‘let’s meet for lunch.’ It’s great if employees continue a more active lifestyle, while working remotely, but we want to encourage increased physical activity during office days as well.

Why not try shaking up work routines with activities like walking work meetings? These can also make gatherings more efficient as employees are less like to procrastinate or feel lethargic during a brisk walk.

As restrictions begin to lift, you could think about offering discounted or free memberships to local gyms or classes or sponsor a workplace group in a charity event like a fundraising run.

For those working from home, a level of flexibility for when people exercise should be available. This is so employees feel comfortable doing physical exercise when it is convenient for them. It’s important those who began a fitness routine at home do not stop because they feel guilty for exercising when others are in the office.

A new love for volunteering
From offering to collect groceries for elderly neighbours to signing up to be NHS Volunteer Responders, the pandemic increased community spirit.

42 percent of employees’ feelings about their work are based on their perception of their CSR activities. So, if there was ever a time for companies to do right – it’s right now – as more individuals are taking note of the way businesses respond to the current crisis.

 At Selecta UK, internal feedback and information shared through social media channels are vital in spreading the effect of our charity work. It also often results in a larger group of volunteers or larger donations for future projects undertaken with our partners.

Channels like social media and intranet sites need to be used, to make these updates easily available, especially as more people work remotely.

Now, might also be the perfect time to increase efforts promoting CSR in your internal company e-newsletter. Some businesses report their internal updates have skyrocketed during remote working, with some e-newsletters generating an 80 percent open rate.

The right to disconnect
If employees don’t disconnect from work, they’re not going to have a chance to rest and recharge, which can lead to disengagement and a decline in work performance.

Stick to your company’s regular work hours as much as possible.

For example, you might designate 9 am to 5.30 pm each day as your set hours. Staff should be encouraged not to participate in work-related activities after that time.

One of the best ways HR and leadership can inspire their employees to disconnect is to lead by example. When leaders model behaviour, it normalises it for everyone else. Check managers are clocking off during set hours as well and not contacting employees during their free time.