As Lockdowns are Lifted, Can the Workforce Return Safely?

May 19, 2020 – Beginning this week, many parts of the world, including many states in the U.S. and entire countries such as Italy, are lifting the strictest elements of shelter-in-place orders. Now, instead of asking: “How do we get people to work off-site?” many business leaders are asking: “How do we get people back?” But those leaders are quickly determining that it isn’t as easy as telling employees to come back to the factory, warehouse, store or office, according to a new report from Korn Ferry.

There is plenty of skittishness among employees about whether the workplace — or the commute to it — is safe and sanitary, said Korn Ferry. Workers don’t want to leave their kids alone either. At the same time, many executives are unsure which employees to bring back on-site. “No one has a playbook yet,” said Dan Kaplan, a Korn Ferry senior client partner who works with human resources executives.

2  New Recruiting Guides Focus On Adaptation, Forecasts and Recovery

The nation’s vast executive search community and their clients are quickly adapting to the new realities of Covid-19 – and what it means for hiring in 2020 and beyond.

Hunt Scanlon’s latest executive recruiting industry sector report series will be available in 30 days. Hunt Scanlon Media will offer its two-part ‘Executive Recruiting State of the Industry Report’ focused on the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Part 1, ‘Adapting in Uncertain Times’ will examine how executive recruiters are resetting expectations in the midst of an unprecedented interruption to their business.

The part 2 installment, ‘Forecast & Recovery Strategies’ is our aftermath report – and provides critical data to guide your decisions and inform you on forward-thinking recovery strategies. Industry experts from across the talent and recruiting spectrum offer up their wide-ranging opinions, definitive viewpoints, and expert forecasts.

Hear from top talent experts, including: Options Group; Odgers Berndtson; ZRG; Wilton & Bain; Perrett Laver; Cejka Search; Thrive; Academic Search; Vetted Solutions; ON Partners; Versique; NPA Worldwide; Borrer Executive Search; IESF; Hightech Partners; Robin Judson Partners; Preng & Associates; Hartman Group Consulting; Cornerstone International; College Sports Solutions; Greenwich Harbor Partners; RevelOne; Human Capital Group; Slone Partners; De Forest Search; Westwood Partners; WGNinHR; Turning Point Executive Search; RSR Partners; Presidio Search Group & more! Buy Both Reports Now!

In most cases, Korn Ferry said, companies can set their own rules about where their people work. For the pandemic, “the U.S. government issued guidelines encouraging employers to create special accommodations at the workplace for the elderly and people with certain underlying health conditions, but there isn’t any enforcement power behind those guidelines,” the search firm said. “Workers have some protections to refuse to work if there is a reasonable expectation that workplace conditions could cause serious physical harm or death. In the U.S., they could file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”

New Rules

That’s why many experts are advising organizations to stay behind the government rather than get ahead of it. That way, an organization can, along with instituting new rules about social distancing and sanitizing, help show that it’s making a reasonable effort to keep employees safe, a determination that can limit the company’s legal liability, said Korn Ferry.

Related: Executive Recruiters Roll Up Their Sleeves as COVID-19 Crisis Unfolds

“But even if the workplace is all set up for the post-pandemic world, workers may not be ready to return,” Mr. Kaplan said. “Some employees might be sick themselves — or have family members who were infected — so it’s imperative that companies have a good grasp of the health of their workers.”

Most companies should also give their employees the benefit of the doubt and let them work from home, especially if the reason is family related. “You should be a little too flexible rather than being too harsh, especially since lives could be at risk,” said Ron Porter, a senior client partner at Korn Ferry and head of the firm’s center for human resources excellence. “Indeed, erring on the lenient side can help increase — or at least maintain — employee engagement levels.”

10 Tips for Networking with Executive Recruiters During COVID-19
Now more than ever, search firms can be a great help to professionals seeking a new role. The key is to come prepared, says Dave Westberry of BridgeStreet Partners. Be genuine, have a polished resume, and be knowledgeable about the recruiter you are approaching. Others search leaders chime in as well from Bowdoin Group, NPAworldwide, and Frazier Jones.

There’s also the issue of pay. Many organizations that kept their businesses open during the worst of the pandemic gave their employees what effectively amounted to hazard pay: bonuses or higher wages to work in environments that may have increased their chances of getting infected, said Korn Ferry. Do those payments go away?

Related: Conducting Executive Searches During a Pandemic

Korn Ferry also pointed to the looming issue of how to treat new employees. Many existing employees had to take pay cuts, work off-site, or both, because of the coronavirus’s destructive impact on the world economy. Simply offering new hires the same packages may risk missing out on exceptional hires. “It’s a big deal right now,” said Bob Wesselkamper, Korn Ferry’s vice chairman of rewards and benefits solutions. “It tests an organization’s return to work strategy.”

Frequently Adjusting

Finally, there may be roles that, for a variety of reasons, are performed more productively outside the main job site. “Companies can use their current experience with off-site workers to learn how to better engage them and train the managers who work with this group,” said Melissa Swift, a Korn Ferry senior client partner and the leader of the firm’s digital advisory for North American and global accounts. “More importantly, firms will want to create roles that fit how the organization will function in the post-pandemic future. Agile organizations and leaders will recognize that things are not going to back to what they were before the coronavirus,” Ms. Swift said.

Carol Crossdale, of boutique legal recruiting firm CrossdalePaul, weighed in on the topic: “One thing that employers can count on, as they begin bringing employees back to work, is that the considerations for returning to work will not be fixed.  Instead, employers will need to be constantly re-evaluating as the terrain shifts,” she said. “Unlike other previous risks where an employer could come up with a comprehensive plan and then continue to stick to the plan over time, with COVID-19, employers will need to frequently adjust their practices in light of rapidly changing information about the coronavirus, and constantly changing information about the timing and scale of outbreaks and hot spots.”

Related: Leveraging Existing Response Plans to Tackle COVID-19

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media