The new normal in returning to the office

There are certain steps that investment managers should take to keep employees well-informed and safe as they move to re-open their offices. According to a survey of 98 investment firms recently conducted by the Callan Institute, more than one-third of respondents do not expect to reopen until 2021. However, 7% of respondents plan to re-open their offices this month. The survey found that 75% of respondents said that a minimum of 90% of employees were working from home. But that will change as 78% of managers expect most employees to return to the office at some point, although firm expect that 25% or less of their workforce will permanently work from home. So as office re-openings loom, what can managers do to ensure employees are safe? Emily Kirkpatrick, an executive vice president at Citco, said that when planning to bring employees back into the office, the priority is safety. Firms first need to look to local guidelines to determine if there are curfews or other restrictions that would impact business operations and employees’ ability to come to and leave the office. To begin the evaluations of who is requesting to come back and what their business reasons are for wanting to do so, what the offices can safely accommodate and steps needed to be implemented to follow government guidelines, Kirkpatrick suggested firms draft an oversight process. “I suggest firms form a committee to evaluate each employee’s request to come back into the office, ensure that the request gets proper approvals and employees are following all of the guidelines for returning to the office that have been laid out,” Kirkpatrick said. “The committee would also be there so people know who to go to with questions or problems.” The committee should include the firm’s facilities team, if there is one, who can evaluate the office to determine what the floorplan could support in terms of staff on site with the physical distancing requirements. Kirkpatrick also suggested firms set guidelines for being in the office. “Consider providing masks and having proper PPE. As an example, we put hand sanitizer at the entryways and put up signage around the offices to remind everyone of the best practices. We’ve also tried to control flow by having one way in and one way out,” she added. Communication is key in this situation. Employees need to be informed about proper procedures for returning to the office, particularly if there will be rotating schedules with employees. According to the Callan study, some policies firms have implemented include contact tracing of employees, providing personal protective equipment (PPE), and limiting the office capacity to 20% of employees at any given time. “Pay attention to staff sentiment as that will help you gauge whether they are comfortable with the situation. That will help you be successful in this process.”

The new normal in returning to the office

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Jennifer Banzaca

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Jennifer Banzaca

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