Addressing Employees’ Fears of Returning to the Workplace

Governments and public health pronouncements aside, businesses can only reopen when their employees feel safe returning to work. In a recent survey of 735 U.S. employers conducted by the global human resources consulting firm Mercer, more than 45 percent said they are already struggling with workers who are reluctant to return to their workplaces because of fear of getting sick.

In a recent Inc. article, Peter Newell, a former Army colonel who spent years on wartime frontlines tackling ill-defined challenges in risky situations and who now runs the consulting firm BMNT, offers advice for navigating this unprecedented dilemma:
 

• Know you can't manage people’s fears; you can only support them: Encourage people to be honest about what they are feeling and listen to them. Communicate transparently about what you know and what you don’t.
• Map out exactly what returning to work will look like: For example, how will you handle meetings with co-workers and clients, and what types of business travel, if any, will take place?
• Directly address the stress your employees are going through: The pressures of lockdown have meant many people have taken few breaks, let alone vacations. Newell’s advice: “I'm asking folks, when all this ends, tell me how you're taking time off to get away.”

 
If your team is considering returning to the workplace, what are the greatest concerns and how are you addressing them? To join the conversation, click "comments" above.

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