**Published originally in the Corporate Wellness Magazine**
Employee anxiety is at an all-time high, no thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Anxious about contracting the illness, employees are faced with a pervasive need to avoid all potential sources of the virus, one of which may be the workplace. Now many business leaders are concerned – will workers quit when you force them to return to the office?
Admittedly, we are all tired of talking about the pandemic; we all wish it were gone sooner than later; but wishing it away isn’t a strategy. For many employers, the biggest challenge now is how to return to the office safely amid numerous factors involved. For instance, how do you determine which vaccines are okay for your workplace?
If you have an employee from abroad returning to the office who has received an FDA-unapproved vaccine, will your other vaccinated employees want to be in a conference room or elevator with him or with someone who has not been vaccinated at all? Would they want to be in close quarters with an employee whose family member recently traveled to a country where another variant is prominent?
These questions and variables need to be addressed before a company tries to get remote workers back in the office or attract new employees to come onboard.
Two innovative companies that are addressing this issue of building trust in returning to work are CLX Health and Global Healthcare Accreditation. CLX Health launched TrustAssure™ in early 2020—a tool that many airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and large employers are now adopting to safely reopen on-site work—as a multi-stakeholder engagement platform that integrates employees (consumers), labs, hospitals, insurers, and employers to share vital health information. TrustAssure now allows real-time COVID-19 risk assessment, verification of COVID-19 status, and helps business leaders to map out COVID-19 mitigation strategies for their organizations.
Have you thought about what vaccine allows an employee into your offices, or who gets to meet with your C-Suite? Who gets to travel for business and where? Who gets to use your conference room and when? Your in-office protocols are then added to the risk management platform for complete transparency and compliance support. TrustAssure does it all. The platform integrates data from all the airlines, travel destinations, and tourism stakeholders, allowing safe travel for business, knowing the app is designed to provide information that complies with international travel guidelines. For travel and in-office activities, workers can feel assured that your organization is prioritizing safety and health in and out of the office.
Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA)recently launched GHA For Business, a streamlined, easy-to-use framework and accreditation program designed for any organization looking to validate its commitment to safety, health, and well-being while at the same time building a more resilience corporate culture to prepare for any health risk in the future. with strong emphasis on organizational resilience. Unique from any other accreditation, the GHA For Business seal represents the gold standard that helps build trust and confidence for employees, customers, and guests. For organizations looking to bring employees back to office, attract new employees, and build long term organization resilience, the guidelines and implementation guidance provide a unique and fresh perspective on realigning benefits to a greater corporate purpose, mission, and values around well-being expected in this evolving environment.
Additionally, accreditation provides third-party validation and builds confidence and trust for getting employees to return to office. This helps to drive employee retention and builds a competitive edge for attracting new talent. Purpose and profit are positively linked, with consumers more likely to purchase from companies they feel are advancing society. Consumers will pay a premium for brands that contribute to the community.
More on the GHA program can be viewed here.
Now is the time to make significant decisions around employee well-being and boost productivity through trust and confidence. The same can be said for your customers. Implementing technology solutions and earning accreditation centered upon safety, health, and well-being are great ways to achieve this in these unprecedented times. At the end of the day, employees are an organization’s most valuable asset. Do what is needed to show that you value them and put them first.
Take the quick GHA For Business Quiz to see how your organization's practices and policies based off the gold standard criteria.
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