While COVID-19 is still a part of our everyday lives, we have been so impressed by the resilience and strength of our employees. Over the past few months, we have explored new ways to interact with our team members, using strategies like virtual hangouts and happy hours to build stronger teams. We have also adapted how we serve our clients, using virtual meetings, video calls, and other online platforms in lieu of in-person meetings.
As businesses start to introduce employees back to the workplace, JEO will also slowly welcome employees back to their offices. While we’re excited to get back to some sort of normalcy, we fully understand we are still in the midst of a pandemic. Normal day-to-day operations will look different.
JEO has always put clients and employees first, and this transition back to the office will be no different. Below are a few examples of how JEO is making this transition as safe as possible.
1. Updated cleaning procedures: We have increased access to disinfectant supplies throughout all our offices, this includes hand sanitizer and disinfecting/cleaning materials. We have paired signs and visual cues with cleaning supplies, reminding team members to clean and disinfect the surfaces they touch to reduce the probability of disease transmission. We have also asked team members to clean their workstations often and avoid sharing or using others workstations.
2. Limiting in-person interactions: For the safety of those returning to work, we are currently limiting visitors entering our offices. We also recommend the continued use of virtual meetings. At the outset of this pandemic, our Community Engagement Team developed tutorials to assist in the facilitation of effective virtual meetings and continue to support technical teams in this process. We do recognize, however, that not all meetings can be conducted online. Some of these meetings happen outside on a project site while some are happening indoors. For in-person meetings held indoors, we have limited the number of people that can occupy conference rooms and other shared spaces to ensure we are following social distancing guidelines. For in-person meetings, or when team members need to be in shared/common areas, we have facemasks available and encourage their use.
3. Staying informed: JEO is closely following COVID-19’s continually updating information. Beginning in mid-March and continuing today we have implemented the CDC’s recommended guidelines and use routine company-wide calls to keep our employees informed of what is happening within the organization as well as in the communities we serve. Additionally, we’ve created and compiled resources for staying safe and healthy during the pandemic.
4. Providing mental health resources: We recognize this pandemic, and concerns about coming back to work, is stressful. Our employee assistance program (EAP) has served as a great resource to help our employees manage life’s challenges and improve overall wellbeing during these challenging times.
This is a new way of working and as a company, we are learning as we go. With this in mind, we’re confident JEO’s reopening process will be successful and safe. We look forward to a time when we can all safely return to work.