4 Effective Ways to Use the HR Budget during COVID-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has created myriad challenges, particularly for companies looking to reopen their offices. A lot of employees are slowly returning to the office after working from home for several months, but only a third of employees feel safe doing so. There are many reasons as to why companies want their employees to return to the office, such as the inability to separate work from home life and the lack of networking opportunities in remote work. In these times of uncertainty, it is crucial to make employees feel safe and taken care of while working at the office.

4 Ways to Utilise the HR Budget during Corona

Since safety and health are one of the core functions of HR, the following 4 measures can be applied to effectively make use of the department’s budget during Corona.

1. Investing in Safety Measures

While many companies may feel a sense of urgency to get their business back to normal, it is important that safety measures are implemented to ensure a safe return to the office for all employees. To prevent the transmission of the virus among colleagues, providing masks as well as disinfectant is recommended and, in some cases, even legally required. An affordable yet effective antiseptic is the Bode Sterillium, that can easily be purchased in bulk.

In order to reduce the risk of transmission, the German Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) requires a minimum distance between employees of 1.5 meters. Here are some courses of action which will enable you to comply with the new requirements:

• Have employees reserve their workspace in advance. Desk booking has become a popular space management technique during Covid-19 because it controls the amount of people that are present in the office. Reserving desks in advance effectively balances office and remote working and it allows employees to slowly and safely return to the office. Tools like OfficeSpace can be used to implement this new way of space management. It lets you adapt your existing seating plans and meeting room capacities to prevent office overcrowding and give employees the possibility to safely book their workspace online.
• Rearrange the existing office furniture. The idea is to retrofit the workplace with what you already have and spread out tables to create more space between workers. It helps to map out the available space in the form of an empty floor plan and then relocate desks to have at least 1.5 meters of distance between each other.
• If desks can’t be spread out to create distance between employees, purchase protective screens made of acrylic glass. They are usually placed between desks to act as barrier for viral and bacterial infections. This investment protects office workers whilst still enabling close interaction.

2. Food Benefits

The lunch break poses another risk for infection. At restaurants, insufficient space between tables or between the server and the customer increases the risk of transmission. Additionally, due to the limited time employees have during their lunch break, they may not follow the necessary precautions such as wearing a mask or washing their hands in order to get back to their workplace on time. If employees prepare their own food in the office kitchen, safe distances between colleagues and the proper sanitation of appliances can’t always be guaranteed.

A way to circumvent the danger of contracting or spreading the virus during lunch is to offer food benefits for employees by cooperating with safe delivery services. According to the World Health Organization, food delivery is a sanitary option if the provider follows good hygiene practices.

Our online canteen Bella&Bona delivers lunch to companies daily while taking necessary precautions — including a contactless delivery, providing safety equipment such as masks and fitted gloves for our staff and fully disinfecting all spaces we operate in. Employees can choose their lunch from a variety of healthy and nutritional dishes, including vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. All meals are delivered in separate and safe boxes, ready to be enjoyed by workers from the comfort of their office. We cook and deliver every dish ourselves, which means we can ensure a 100% hygienic process. For more information, visit the Bella&Bona website.

Offering food benefits also has other advantages:

• Productivity boost: Finding a place to eat lunch at can be a major source of distraction. Using an online canteen ensures a more relaxed break time.
• Engagement: Lunch can be used as a way to connect employees and strengthen relationships. It’s an opportunity to improve communications and conduct team building in a high-pressure working environment.
• Employee retention: Food benefits are seen as major perk by employees. It leads to a higher job satisfaction and is often used as a way to attract new job candidates.

Tip: Encouraging employees to have team lunches in small groups while remaining at a safe distance is a great way to make them feel comfortable at the office again.

3. Health Awareness Days

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many company events to be cancelled or postponed. However, one event that should take place despite the current situation is a health awareness day. Before Corona, the main idea behind a corporate event like that of was on teaching employees how to lead a healthy lifestyle and prevent common health issues that stem from working at an office full-time, such as back pain or headaches. Even though these topics are still relevant, the ongoing pandemic calls for a slight shift in focus. Health awareness days in 2020 can be used to educate employees on staying safe during the pandemic and how they can effectively boost their immune system to stay healthy.

Many people are currently experiencing fear, worry and concern — all of which are triggered by stress over the virus and its many impacts, such as the physical isolation at home. Not only do mental health issues affect the wellbeing of employees, it also has an impact on their performance at work. Therefore, health days should be used to teach office workers how to cope with stress and anxiety on top of including lessons about staying active, getting and adequate amount of sleep and taking care of their diet and nutrition.

To arrange informative health days, external agencies focusing on health management can be hired for the day. Some health insurance companies also offer these types of services for businesses. Instead of having them come to your office, it’s possible to host a health awareness day in the form of an online conference to allow every employee to participate, even the ones that still work from home.

4. Welcome Back Gifts

In addition to warranting a comfortable return to the office by implementing safety measures, incentives such as gifts can be used to wish employees a warm welcome back. A present is a fantastic way to reward, thank and motivate the team for keeping up the good work during such unprecedented times. Common gifts include tote bags, coffee mugs, flowers, stationery, office supplies and gift cards.

Tip: Snack boxes are a fantastic way to welcome employees back to the office. Nutritional foods are known to boost productivity and happiness at work which means giving snacks as a present is a win-win situation for both the employee and the company. Bella&Bona offers a delicious health-boosting package filled with a mango passionfruit smoothie, an oat chocolate bar and chickpea crisps with paprika flavour, delivered straight to the office. Every box is wrapped individually to ensure a hygienic food experience. If you are interested in the “welcome back” boxes, send an email to info@bellabona.com.

Summary

Using the HR budget to create a safe environment for employees to return to the office during a pandemic is crucial. This can be achieved by investing in safety measures like acrylic screens and disinfectant dispensers and by offering food benefits to ensure a safe lunch break. Looking out for employee’s health by hosting health awareness days and welcoming them back to the office with gifts like the Bella&Bona snack box are additional ways to show appreciation to hardworking office personnel.

Written by Charline Will