The Bathroom Manufacturers Association hosted an event on how best to support colleagues as offices and workplaces re-open.
A complex web of HR, physical and mental health considerations should be weighed up during this transition phase.
Specialist HR adviser Clare Hodcroft, Harry Bliss from Champion Health and Jonathan Daniel from FitBack, presented during the BMA’s webinar session held this week. It was recorded to accommodate replays.
Clare, from Spark People Solutions explained the return to work ‘post pandemic’ is unchartered territory in terms of employer’s responsibilities.
She added: “Creating the right culture is key, it needs to be supportive and inclusive.
“Everyone has been impacted by the pandemic in different ways and employers should focus on making the transition less daunting for their staff.
“There are also many potential legal hurdles when it comes to vaccines. Employees can encourage people to be vaccinated, that is a reasonable step to reducing risk. But if you are considering taking a mandatory approach, you need to seek proper legal advice. This an unprecedented situation and there are no reference test cases.”
Harry Bliss, from Champion Health, said: “Wellbeing strategies should be data driven, it’s not a tick box exercise.
“To have authenticity it should start and end with data. This can be a 10-15 min survey asking about work-related stress, culture etc.
“For a long time, work-place health and wellbeing initiatives have been reactive, but a shift is happening, employers are listening to people and if they can be more proactive it is better for everyone.”
Jonathan Daniel from FitBack said: “It’s important in a hybrid working environment for home workers to be supported as well as those who are working in the office environment.
“If someone walks into an office you can see if they have a bad back, this is not so obvious for home workers so you must keep the contact and communication with these members of staff.
“From the moment we get up to the time we go to bed, the majority of our time is spent in a series of flex positions.
“You should find time to move from that flex position at least every 45 mins, and I know a lot of people struggle to find time to exercise but how about trying some movements during the two or three minutes when you are making a cup of tea.”
For a full recording of the session click the box on the left or visit https://youtu.be/w6p3lhNNfNA