People keep talking about the dawn of a ‘new normal’ when this is all over. I hope that there is a dawn of a new time when COVID is done and that it’s not all Zoom and Gloom until we realize it’s over… I hope we can mark that day on a calendar and plan for it. We don’t know when that day will be or what that day looks like just yet, but without a doubt there will be day when your office is bustling with staff once again. For those of you who have started planning for that day and maybe made changes to your physical office space, what will those changes look like to the psyche of your employees and customers?
This pandemic is hitting lots of different business in a wide array of ways and every employee has had a different experience throughout this, but the one thing that is true of everyone is they hope to be welcomed back to a sense of normalcy on the day we start the rebuild of our economy. Businesses that were still going during COVID with tonnes of overtime for all of their overburdened staff like Grocery, Medical Services or Waste Haulers, their staff are going to want a break, maybe they will want to stay home when this is over. Staff from businesses who are shuttered or on pause like Massage Therapists, Chiropractors, retail businesses and other important but non-essential businesses are going to want to get back to it right away, keep that in mind as you plan for this day. Your Chiropractor might have to get a few kinks out of their processes before they can get them out of your joints.
We have started working with a number of customers on planning for the first day back. One uniquely fit customer wants to give every employee a plant for their desk, so they can feel like they are keeping something alive. Another is getting everyone personalized coffee cups so that they are less likely to cross contaminate the cups. We also launched a line of commemorative “I stayed home” coffee cups, which are exclusive to The Promo Addict which would be a nice addition to any welcome back to work kit that you want to put together.
No matter what you plan to do for your employees or customers, I hope that we can show real solidarity and commitment to making everyone feel more comfortable in what will undoubtedly be a challenging time for a lot of people and businesses.