Despite the figurative dust of Covid appearing to settle, the rollercoaster crisis has been difficult, with companies and organisations facing numerous challenges to keep their doors open and employees safe from the disease.
Now, with more states lifting the mask and work from home mandates, comes word that the work and determination of business leaders to keep operations going is being recognised—if not completely appreciated—by employees.
According to a recent survey of more than 9600 employees, the majority of workers gave their companies high marks for keeping them safe and supporting them during the pandemic. Indeed, 84 per cent of employees who said they feel safe and are comfortable at work plan to stay with their employer for the foreseeable future.
Almost three-quarters of the workers (70%) reported feeling comfortable in their workplace. Two-thirds said their companies were keeping them productive (67%) and safe (66%) from Covid-19 and more than half (58%) believe their employer has supported their wellbeing.
Graham Gordon, CEO of Gardian believes that the past two years have been challenging for both employers and their employees, and the ‘new norm’ is still being trialled.
“There isn’t a rulebook for how to navigate a pandemic successfully – particularly one that has disrupted multiple sectors and mutated as often as Covid-19 has,” said Gordon. “Organisations have needed to adapt operations continually and make their employees’ health and wellbeing a top priority. As our own research shows, most employees embraced their employers’ actions to keep them safe at work and support them. Those efforts are having a positive impact on employees.”
From enforcing social distancing and sanitising high-touch areas frequently to introducing shift work and contactless deliveries, companies are still trying to eliminate all chances of virus spread. Forward thinking organisations have implemented regular surveillance testing both via Point of Care or at-home self-testing with rapid antigen kits and those that recognise the importance of repeatability and secure reporting have bolstered their Covid-free plan by managing the program via the easily