What is your criteria for planning the return to the office?
There are many different sources we have taken into consideration, before making an informed decision to gradually return to our home away from home.
Here is the criteria we are taking into consideration when returning back to the office:
– Immunization of our employees – around 80% of our employees have been fully vaccinated on a volunteer basis.
– External sources – government guidance, global and local health agencies (WHO and government health institutions), epidemiological data modeling and predictions, practices of world’s leading companies, outside health expertise (e.g. HSE outsourcer) and consultation with a leading immunization expert.
– Last but not least, the sentiment of our people and our specific situations. The majority of our people are looking for a change of scenery and regaining social interaction, safely. The overall sentiment has been positive, especially coming from our new hires that have joined during the working from home period who can’t wait to get the full Nordeus experience, feel our culture, our energy, our values, in a way all of us have felt when we joined.
What is your overall work from office strategy?
There are many different pieces of puzzles we are putting together, and are giving the best to customize our approach according to the company size, culture and specific circumstances.
We will experiment in the next few months and try to replicate “normal” working conditions under controlled and safe circumstances. In short, we will remain flexible, taking into account both the local and global situation, official metrics, the advice of the experts in the field, as well as the sentiment of our people.
Thursdays and Fridays will be remote workdays while Friday will remain the no-meeting day, a practice that we introduced during WFH and has proven effective ever since. In case of the situation changes, we will adjust our approach accordingly, and if there is a need, we are ready to switch back to WFH immediately at any point in time.
Our focus has been and will remain on the well-being of our people and their families.
Have all your employees been vaccinated?
Currently, over 80% of our people have been fully vaccinated on a volunteer-based approach.
What are some health and safety precautions you are taking in the office?
Even before the pandemic, our office space was designed to respond to flexible and comfortable working conditions for 250 people and there are 170 of us currently at Nordeus. That means that with 6.000 m2, Nordeans can enjoy 25 m2 of personal space each with the official recommendation being 10-12 m2 per person.
Apart from actively looking at the situation both locally and globally, there are a number of precautions we will keep in place in the office as we gradually head back. Here are some of them:
– Four people per office. In case they have been fully vaccinated they can take off their masks.
– Wearing masks when in our shared space.
– Keeping the safe 2m distance when in our shared space.
– Masks and disinfectants are available at every corner of our office for the convenience of our people.
– Our space maintenance has been taken to another level during the pandemic and we continue taking it very seriously. There’s a 100% fresh flow intake through our ventilation system and also a possibility for natural ventilation.
Does this mean you are working exclusively from the office?
Every person’s circumstances are different, and we are taking them into account in order to remain flexible and be able to customize our back-to-the-office approach. We are leaving this up to the individual and their manager to figure out the best way to accommodate those that are unable to join us in the office.
What is next?
No one knows what the future holds, but we want to test and experiment with our ways of working in a safe and controlled environment while the circumstances allow it. During the work from home, we have introduced a lot of tools that nurture cooperation and knowledge sharing such as interactive whiteboards suitable for workshops and cross-team collaboration. Some of these practices we will definitely continue to implement in the future, no matter if we are in the office or at home. Furthermore, the team has focused on upgrading the current workplace technology to support the hybrid mode of working. In case of the situation changes, we are ready to switch back to WFH immediately at any point in time.