0820_AUG Comstock's Magazine 0820 August | Page 14

EVIL HR LADY
DILEMMA OF THE MONTH
How You Can Help Your
Workers Return
BY Suzanne Lucas
ILLUSTRATION: JOHN CHASE
During the coronavirus pandemic, my employees
have all worked remotely. When restrictions are
eased, how should I respond to those who want to
continue to work remotely? And what can I do to
help ease their concerns as they do return?
First, my bias: I’ve worked from home
either exclusively or alternating with
days in the office for the past 16 years.
So I’m a big proponent of working
remotely.
Here’s my other bias: What’s best
for company unity and team building is
when team members know each other
as human beings. It’s easy to argue and
complain about faceless people on the
internet. If you’re not careful, team
members who don’t know each other
outside of instant messaging and the
occasional video meeting may start to
see each other as random Twitter feeds
and not as people with feelings and
expertise.
So, even though I love working at
home, I see the value in having people
work together in an office. You can build
a team without being together, but it is
more complicated. Not everyone does
a good job when they work from home,
and not everyone has the space and
amenities necessary to do quality work
for the long term.
Now to your question about people
who want to continue working remotely.
How about letting them?
If your employees are happy at
home, productive at home and will not
cause problems for the rest of the team
by being at home, there’s not a good
reason to force them into the office. And
they’ve got the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention on their side.
When an employee requests it, don’t
say no without an explanation. If you
think there is a problem with them staying
home, define the problem. Here are
some sample situations that would need
to be addressed with your employee.
14 comstocksmag.com | August 2020