Anxious About Re-Opening? We Have Some Tips to Help You!

As an essential supplier to many front line agencies and workers, we have remained open during this pandemic, working tirelessly to ensure everyone has access to the PPE that they need to stay safe. Since we have remained open, I’ve had many other business owners ask me for advice on how to ease the stress for those going back to work, whatever that might look for your team!

So here are some ways to consider helping to ease that transition:

• Be prepared and communicate to your team. Providing the essential Personal Protective Equipment is necessary but it’s also important to communicate ahead of time to your team so they know what to expect. Continue to outline the changes that you are making and allow your team to voice any suggestions and/or concerns ahead of time. Be sure to enforce these new policies,monitor and ensure no one is breaking your new conduct to ensure everyone’s safety.

• Adapt to the new expectations of yourself and team. These are not normal times, so we cannot expect everything to run the same way it did before. We must recognize that the heightened anxiety that we are experiencing can affect performance. If your team can work from home, use video conferencing to stay connected and help those at home not feel so isolated. If you have working parents, be considerate with no child care options, that this is a very difficult time. If you can allow them to adapt hours and utilize evenings and weekends this may help lighten the load. Make sure that you communicate the available free resources, such as Wellness Together Canada.

• Honour your team and clients! I am always looking for ways to honour my team and show how appreciative I am for their work. Some quick and easy ways you can do this is to provide lunch or even a morning coffee! Our COVID Care Kit, is a gift bag with essential supplies and some treats to let your team or clients know that you care and are thinking of them!

Have any other great ideas? I’d love to hear them – these times are very difficult and as business and non-profit leaders, it is up to us to make it work for both the economy and our teams! Let’s show our clients what we are doing to keep them safe, not tell them. We are all in this together!