Did the pandemic defeat the return to the office permanently?

This is what we read in September 2021: 

 “The Delta variant is jeopardizing the economy's long-awaited fall. Companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s, Google, BlackRock Inc and Wells Fargo are among the latest large employers to push back fall reopening plans. 

Amazon pushed back its plans to January 2022 for corporate staff. Delta has also disrupted already strained supply chains. Spending on Bank of America cards is moderating, and Southwest Airlines Co. reported an increase in trip cancellations.”

The latest Covid variants forced majorities of the CEOs to flex their expectations and develop new plans for their organization.

 As the pandemic recedes but continues to pose a threat most of the organizations are developing new methods for on-boarding employees and recreating their workplaces.

 The global health crisis has forced business leaders to rethink the way they operate, ideally capturing the benefits of flexible schedules and reducing commutes while avoiding the isolation, declining collaboration during the pandemic.

Here are some creative and proven to be efficient innovations for in the office employees:

• Checking in with new hires every day for the first two weeks and connecting with an executive during virtual lunch once a month.

• Providing hot meals to all employees from local cafes free of charge.

• Scheduling important business meetings between 10 am – 2pm to avoid commuting during rush hour. 

• Designing new, smaller spaces where workers have discrete workspaces avoiding cubicles. Instead, they are grouping desks in pods of three to six so teams can come in on the same day, sit near each other, and collaborate. 

• Creating virtual sessions led by co-workers sharing their passions or areas of expertise, like cooking, gardening and painting.

The pandemic has left untouched almost no part of how many of us work. Successful leaders are finding great opportunities to innovate, to adaRemember? We were ready to return to our offices by fall of 2021. Then Delta entered our world. This is when we started to rethink our strategies working in the office.pt to the current environment and to bring new benefits for employees and businesses.

Invent your leadership to create a new future for your company and for yourself.