Going back to work: What your HR department should know
CSAA’s Melissa Jones highlights issues for managing a hybrid workforce and discusses employee benefits in the latest Insurance Speak podcast.
Across the country, businesses are reopening in some fashion, but going back to work after months of operating from home will look very different. As companies and employees navigate returning to work during the pandemic, there are multiple issues to be considered as employers balance the needs and concerns of their employees against those of their customers and clients.
Melissa Jones is the executive vice president and chief human resources officer at CSAA Insurance Group and provides some specific details on how to navigate this new environment in the latest Insurance Speak podcast.
She shares that before the pandemic, approximately 10% of CSAA’s workforce operated from home; however, all of that changed in March 2020, and within two weeks, the company had 98% of its employees who were remote. “It was no small feat,” she says.
Going forward, the company is asking employees about their preferences: continue to work fully remotely, combine remote work with several days in the office or return to the office full-time. There was a strong preference for more flexibility, and a large percentage of employees requested some type of hybrid arrangement. This requires some complexities as the company seeks to meet its employees’ desires against the needs of their clients.
Jones discusses how the company creates community within its various workforces, identifies how they are supporting their employees with creative solutions, offers training to help facilitate greater flexibility and even reconsiders what constitutes an average “workday” in an era of balancing homeschooling, caregiving and professional responsibilities.
For more on this conversation, listen to the podcast above or subscribe to Insurance Speak on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play or Libsyn.
Related: