How Employers Can Keep Older Workers Safe and Productive, Mark Allen Offers Insights with SHRM

Employers are facing many challenges with re-onboarding employees, establishing a remote workforce culture, and navigating the complicated challenges of keeping older workers that are vulnerable to COVID-19 safe. Mark Allen shares how organizations can strive to assure older workers are returning to work safely and implementing the proper protocols to protect their safety. Older workers may be the first in line to return to a physical workplace. Allen states organizations must have clear messaging on the safety measures have been put in place, and communicate these measures with all employees. "In order to help employees feel safe, organizations need to send continuous and consistent messaging that they are taking the CDC for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines seriously and are doing everything possible to keep employees safe," said Allen.

In addition, reboarding employees is going to be a critical task for organizations in the new post-pandemic workplace. Allen states, "just as we know how important it is to onboard new employees to a new workplace, it will be equally important to reboard employees to a workplace that will be very different from the one they left last March. The differences will be across a spectrum safety rules, physical environment, workplace flexibility and even social norms." For employees to effectively return to the workplace, employers must encourage open dialogue. Employers have a responsibility to care about all of their employees -- both their physical and emotional well-being.

The full article can be viewed here.