Managing a workforce during any period of transition can be a difficult process, even during ‘normal’ circumstances. Over the past 15 months, businesses have faced constant transition, adjusting operations to adhere to government restrictions and public health orders.

In the new world of work, many employees will continue to work from home. However, as the government lifts restrictions across the country, many industries, such as retail, hospitality, healthcare, and manufacturing, will need to return to the physical workplace.

For any business, this transition back to the workplace will not be straightforward, as it is unchartered territory for us all. This means that employers will need to ensure they are fully prepared to navigate the complexities associated with the return to work and manage their workforce appropriately by utilising workforce management tools.

Workforce management, or the process of scheduling workers and tracking their time, attendance and absences, has always been a critical business function and a complex one. But, now with the additional challenge of COVID-19, the complexity of workforce scheduling has increased ten-fold. Organisations must adhere to changing laws regarding scheduling, increased overtime among essential workers, meeting government requirements for reopening, and considering employees’ mental health – all while keeping costs down.

Luckily, we have compiled a list of several strategies to keep in mind to support a seamless transition back to work, including effective communication, tracking employees’ vaccination status, limiting the spread of the virus and remote onboarding. 

Communicating effectively 

Clear and effective communication is key to a seamless transition back to the workplace post-COVID. For many people, their employer has been a source of relative stability during a time of chronic uncertainty over the last 15 months. Employees have viewed business leaders as the most trusted source of information since the early days of the pandemic, which is due to clear, empathetic and compassionate communication.

Before thinking about reentry to work at scale, businesses will need to lay the groundwork to ensure effective communication with staff and it all starts with workforce management software. With Ento, the Core HR function allows for fast and easy communication between employers and employees in a single, auditable platform that also enables one-on-one messaging and file sharing, while also empowering staff with simple access to shifts, timesheets, and more.

Tracking vaccination status to inform rostering 

As vaccines are increasingly becoming a requirement for the return to work in Australia to minimise the risk of COVID-19, businesses must ensure all businesses have the infrastructure to meet these changing needs.

Whether vaccinated workers are a requirement for your healthcare organisation, or you’ve made vaccinations mandatory for your business, Ento’s Vaxtrack will help you to keep track of employee vaccination status across your business.

VaxTrack works by collecting and storing the vaccine status of employees within the Ento workforce management software – as it would with a certification or licence – and it is updated by employees as needed. The vaccination information is then used to power rostering notifications, so you’re better equipped to roster for compliance and public health rules.

Low-contact clock-ins via employee app 

Whether you’re in hospitality or the labour-hire industry, the return to work means businesses will need to rethink how they do things to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This includes reducing the amount of contact between employees, with low-contact clock-ins using their phones.

With Ento’s workforce management solution, employees can clock in and out of work using a smart app on their phones. The time clock function allows employees to clock in using the handy facial recognition feature under two seconds, without needing to queue up to punch in or out, and the best part is it features GPS tagging – so employees can clock in from different job sites or locations.

Easy access rostering 

Rostering is one of the most time-intensive tasks of any rostering manager. From finding last-minute fill-ins for a shift to scheduling staff across multiple locations with zero risk of shift clashes, Ento’s rostering software can help you to manage all this and more – all while reducing time spent rostering by up to 85%.

Ento’s 100% cloud-based rostering software allows for easy access rostering, which means that you can manage your workforce in no time by simply dropping in the shifts and letting Ento figure out if it fits your budgets and staffing needs. No more guesswork, our software will correctly manage costs with daily budgets to ensure you stop overspending on labour costs, while also scheduling the resources you need.

Contactless, digital onboarding

As businesses begin to welcome back employees to the workplace full-time, or whether their employees have opted to work-from-home, this means that they will be onboarding new starters. Contactless, digital onboarding is the perfect way to ensure that you’re adhering to the public health orders, while also impressing new hires with a robust onboarding process.

With Ento’s onboarding software, businesses can kickstart the employee experience before their first day with a fully-branded, customisable onboarding workflow. With digital contract and policy signing, new employees can complete their onboarding from any device, any time, while the live dashboard lets you stay on top of hiring health, onboarding speed, fill rates and more.

Want to learn more about how Ento can help support your return to work plans? Discover more about where Ento fits in the HR Tech landscape, or book a demo to explore our platform today.