As society gradually returns to normal and people across a range of industries begin to go back to work, businesses are under increasing pressure to ensure that employees feel safe and supported in a COVID work environment.
To give business leaders a ‘peace of mind’ during this challenging time, Cardiff based Customer Experience company Insight6 Wales, have launched a COVID Staff safety checker. This unique instant feedback system allows businesses to gather real time information on staff safety and wellbeing every day. It offers a constant, open channel of communication between staff and their employer and will trigger an instant dialogue where concerns about safety are raised.
This comes following the widespread unease being reported amongst UK employees who are still reluctant about transitioning back into their normal place of work after the re-opening of sectors such as hospitality and tourism, and with more businesses now pushing for the return of office workers.
Mel Evans, Customer Experience Director of Insight6, said: “We are entering into a new world and for many people returning to the ‘norm’ is a scary thought.”
“Safeguarding staff is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but instead, a fundamental priority for any business operating in the current climate. We are having conversations with business leaders daily who are worried about re-entering the workplace and ensuring that business runs as usual considering the new safety concerns. Not to mention the intense scrutiny and pressure there is for them to not to slip up.”
Mel Evans continues: “Looking at the Team Safety Checker statistics from the past four weeks, it is clear just how much staff and employees need to feel supported. One of our clients with a workforce of 1,800 had 14% admit to feeling unsafe in the workplace in week one. However, by opening up a channel of communication and allowing these employers to understand and address safety concerns, this percentage fell dramatically to just 3% by week four.”
A notable advocate for wellbeing in the workplace and a user of the COVID-19 Team Safety Checker, is Welsh National Park Resort, Bluestone.
Debbie Rainbow, Organisation Development Director at Bluestone said: “At Bluestone, we take our staff welfare incredibly seriously and we know that recent months have been very challenging for everyone. We are committed to supporting our teams back to work in the best way possible.
“We have asked staff how they feel prior to returning to work and used their feedback to help get ourselves prepared for our reopening. On the back of feedback, we wanted to give our teams continuing reassurance that they could raise any worries they may have quickly and effectively
“We are now using the Staff Safety Checker to ask our staff daily how they are feeling in the workplace. This means that we are able to act on feedback provided by our teams in a swift and efficient manner. The staff safety checker is proving to be a very valuable tool, giving us quick and insightful information that can benefit all our Bluestone teams.”
