Get your employees back to the Workplace – safely and with confidence

Hasn’t the world shifted from what was the norm as recently as early March 2020? Nobody could have predicted the changes and the major impact they would have on our everyday lives in the months after. We’ve all had to rapidly adapt the way we live, socialise and work. It’s like the script of a Hollywood blockbuster!

In the world of business, organisations were quickly encouraged to allow their employees to work from home. And it was those organisations that already had the technology and processes in place for remote working that adapted quickest. Those that didn’t faced challenges adjusting to the demands of a newly remote workforce. They had to quickly provide the right tools and connectivity to allow them to do their jobs effectively.

This is where cloud technologies, such as Microsoft Azure and Windows Virtual Desktop, really earned their stripes. Collaboration was also a key requirement for businesses to remain productive, with face-to-face meetings no longer possible. So, many organisations have also successfully started using collaboration solutions, such as Microsoft Teams, to continue working effectively.

How has your business coped?

Technology has certainly helped many businesses to continue operating – in some instances, changing for the better how they do business and how their staff work. Even improving how they interact with their customers.

But that was then! What about now?

Now, five months on, we are starting to see a slight shift back to a sense of normality. “Yes!”, I hear you shout. Being able to work from home was a novelty for many, at least at first. However, as time has gone on, it has been welcome news from the government that normal places of work can begin to re-open. Some, if not all employees, can begin to return to their usual workplaces.

Great news, yes, but a return to the workplace has caused new challenges for employers. Re-opening will now be top of mind but how can they ensure do they do this safely? Business leaders, HR and facilities teams have many things to consider:

• Location readiness – tracking regional outbreaks of coronavirus and making sure facilities are ready to re-open
• Employee and customer safety – ensuring that employees and customer feel confident and safe to return to the workplace and use the facilities
• Case and care management of employee illness – record, inform and monitor any new instances of coronavirus to limit exposure
• Workspace allocation – limit employee numbers within buildings due to social distancing
• Employee sentiment and attestation – self-certification from employees that they are fit for work and accept the changes

Do you have the right tools in place to re-open safely and with confidence?

The focus needs to be on re-opening responsibly, monitoring intelligently and continuous protection. It’s also about being able to proactively react to changes in workplace environments and the needs of employees, quickly and carefully.

This means that organisations will need to adapt once again. A high percentage of businesses won’t have the necessary tools and processes in place to handle these new requirements. Let’s face it, who could have imagined we would ever even need them?  You can’t expect your existing technology solutions to necessarily handle these new requirements, and to customise them could be slow and costly.

However, worry not! Microsoft have been busy developing a suite of applications, powered by Microsoft’s Power Platform, that can help with your employees’ return to the workplace.

Introducing Microsoft’s Return-to-the-Workplace solution

Microsoft promotional video of Return to the Workplace apps.

Microsoft’s affordable, high impact, Return to the Workplace solution, can help you responsibly re-open and allow your employees to return to the workplace. It equips managers with the information and insight they need to make decisions and empowers employees to return with self-service tools to check their health and well-being.

The solution consists of four main modules:

• Location Readiness – Quickly determine the readiness of different locations and efficiently manage their safe reopening using critical data like COVID infection rates and supplies availability.
• Workplace Care Management– Actively manage COVID-19 cases, identify hot spots for safety improvement, and import data from other systems to aid in case management. Dashboards enable monitoring of all solution data.
• Employee Return to the Workplace– Keep employees safe and productive with self-service tools that allow them to check into work remotely and self-screen before entering facilities.
• Location Management – Help your locations remain open safely with tools for monitoring occupancy, health supplies, safety procedures, and other facility-related best practices.

Register now for our upcoming webinars

Want to find out more about the Return to the Workplace solution?

Register for our forthcoming webinars on the topic, taking place on 10^th, 17^th and 24^th September.

If you can’t attend, they will also be available ‘On-demand’ after these dates.

How can DXC help your organisation

We want to ensure you have the right solution in place for your business. DXC can work together with you to configure and deploy the perfect Return to the Workplace solution to meet your evolving needs.

Contact us to find out how we can help you or arrange a short, free consultation.

Stay safe!

Author: Paul Saxton, CTO, Microsoft Business Applications – UK&I