Organizations begin Working from Home as the Threat of a Coronavirus Outbreak Looms
The threat of Coronavirus spreading at a rapid pace has health officials warning businesses that they should prepare to manage a workplace remotely.
Coronavirus has already impacted business globally as financial markets have plummeted and economic activity in China has come to a standstill.
The CDC warned that the spread of coronavirus among individuals where the source is unknown, or “community spread”, is highly likely. They have warned Americans to prepare for a “significant disruption”. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also said that health officials may put into motion guidelines that would increase the physical space between people – including mandated “workplace social distancing measures” that would enforce digital meetings take place rather than in-person meetings.
Managing a Remote Workforce
Experts advise that there are small steps that businesses can implement now to stay operational and ahead of the curve in case Coronavirus disrupts normal business practices across the country.
One step, outlined by Denise Rousseau, Professor of Organizational Behavior and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, explains that designing work-from-home guidelines should be the first step.
“Be output-focused, not process-focused. Make explicit what expectations are,” Rousseau mentions.
Rousseau also urges that businesses should think about what tools and resources a business already is able to do that would allow them to keep operations going while not at the office. Denise acknowledges that although there is a learning curve, research suggests that employees are “just as, if not more, productive at home than they are in an office”.
Jaime Klein, Founder and CEO of Inspire Human Resources, is preparing to manage her team should an outbreak occur. The biggest element for her business is making sure that collaborative tools such as teleconferencing software are in place.
Jaime also agrees with Rousseau in that productivity is higher at home, but also there is a learning curve.
“Like any muscles, it’s all about practicing.” Klein also states “I found that productivity is incredibly high when people work remotely,” adding that “people get back an hour plus or two and a half hours to your day without a commute. What you can do is be realistic about what can be accomplished remote and what can’t. Think about security issues.”
In conclusion Klein says “I think the strongest companies and the strongest leaders lead with comfort and they lead with heart. If they are not taking care of these families when these things happen, there is no way they are going to be productive.”
What if Working from Home isn’t an Option?
For places of business like restaurants or factories, working from home is not an option.
“I think employers are going to be challenged by the fact that they still have to pay bills during this time, as do employees,” Rousseau explains. “The biggest problem is factories, where people need to be physically there to get the work done. It’s very hard to assemble something at a distance. Those are environments where I think they will be much more burdened to create sanitary conditions.”
Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, adds that “Retail has the additional problem in that it’s not just your employees that can be sick, all those people coming into your stores that might be sick. So if you’re a Walmart or a hotel, what are you going to do? Are you going to shut down? And if not, what are the protocols going to be to keep your employees safe from the customers? Those are policies that we are going to have to start thinking through.”
In the interim, the CDC is asking that businesses and employers recommend companies should first and foremost “Actively encourage sick employees to stay home.” They’re also urging organizations to perform regular environmental cleaning to all frequently-touched surfaces, especially doorknobs, keyboards and more.
Story via ABC News
