As lockdown eases, you might feel that it’s time to bring your furloughed team back to work. You’ve put in place all the protection, hygiene and distancing measures. But how can you make sure that your people are happy to return, and, once back, able to work together productively?
1. Make them feel valued
People who feel valued by their employer are more likely to engage positively with returning to work. Furloughed employees may feel that their role is less vital than those of their non-furloughed colleagues, simply because they were selected for furlough. If you can earn their confidence that their role is integral to the business, they’ll be happier to return.
Communication is everything
It’s vital to communicate effectively and personally. Treat your returnees as you would new recruits. This means lots of communication before they return, on their first day in, and beyond. Good two-way communication will:
- Help your people understand the new health & safety situation. Clarity will reduce the risk to everyone’s health.
- Reassure your people that they matter and that their health (and that of their loved ones) is of the utmost importance. Create a series of online videos from managers underlining this and updating them on what’s happening.
- Give all your people the opportunity to ask questions and share concerns. Make it a line manager’s responsibility to have one-to-one phone or video chats with each furloughed person before they return, so that worries can be addressed.
- If they’re returning to a new way of working, such as three-days-a-week in a new team, empower the team leader to make contact to inform and reassure them.
Be sensitive and flexible
Each person on furlough will have a different experience of lockdown, and you’ll be faced with a variety of complex needs to deal with. Some of your team will be desperate to get back to work; others will be hesitant because of extra caring responsibilities; most will be worried about pay; and, of course, they may feel vulnerable to redundancy. To ease concerns:
- If you can guarantee they won’t be made redundant, communicate this. People need to feel secure.
- Be transparent. If you’re not sure what the future holds, be open about this. Also communicate what your hopes are, and your strategy for building the business back up and how they might contribute to this. Re-create a joint vision.
Honour your non-furloughed people
Be sensitive to the feelings of your non-furloughed people. It’s important that they don’t feel that they’ve been slogging away, while their furloughed colleagues have been enjoying a staycation. Show them appreciation and recognise their efforts through difficult times, perhaps through shout-outs on company communications, or through thoughtful thank you gifts and treats that make their time in the office easier, safer and more enjoyable.
2. Returning to work - at home
Discuss with your furloughed employees whether they could adapt or swop responsibilities in order to return from furlough - but work from home. Post-lockdown, remote working is likely to become more normalised, so why not start the conversation now?
It can be challenging to re-engage furloughed employees back into the swing of work when work is performed remotely. Don’t expect super-productivity from the start, and make sure that your home working employee has everything they need, including:
- Clear objectives
- The right tools for the job e.g. software and connectivity
- A work buddy or line manager checking in with them
- Inclusion in their team meetings, through Microsoft Teams or equivalent
Make sure to welcome them back with the warmth and courtesy you’d give them if they were returning to the ‘normal’ office, and that office-based staff know that your furloughed people are back at work. Help your team leaders gain the skills of managing their mixed remote-and-office-based team.
3. Get your people working together well, safely
To build engagement as you re-introduce furloughed employees, try:
- Taking a phased approach to re-introduction. This will give your people time to get used to each other again. Empower non-furloughed employees to take their re-introduced colleagues through the new practices.
- Give socially-distanced welcome “parties” to welcome people back and recognise the hard work of non-furloughed employees. Don’t forget treats, like lunches, for everyone.
- Ditch obsolete working practices. Often, historic systems can become part of the landscape, such as reports that no-one reads, or levels of authorisation that aren’t necessary. Create (virtually) cross-department hubs of employees to investigate new, better ways of working. Empowering people in the re-design of their workplace will get them talking and working together to solve problems, and bond in the process.
The key to reintroducing your furloughed employees is to focus on the physical, mental and emotional health of all your people, and to treat everyone with flexibility and sensitivity.