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As we have come to the end of circuit breaker and are moving on to Phase 1 of reopening our economy, many businesses are also preparing to open their doors again. You might be one of them, anticipating to kickstart your company, rebuild your brand and recover losses. Here are 3 things you can do when reopening your business for post circuit breaker.
1. Adhere to safety regulations
As employees slowly began to head back to work, here are a few safety and health guidelines all should follow according to the Ministry of Manpower.
Stagger work and break hours
Break employees up into different working and break hours so that it reduces congregation and minimises socialising. Staggered work hours also allows employees to avoid peak hours during commuting.
Spilt teams
Deploy your teams into separate working spaces and strictly adhere to it so that the different teams would have no interactions with each other. It minimises the risk of cross infection and ensures that companies remain running in situations where one team needs to be quarantined.
Even though there would be lesser employees in the office due to staggering hours and splitting of teams, one should always maintain a 1m distance between persons at all times and it includes work spaces, meetings and interactions between outside vendors.
Practice good hygiene
Inform employees to keep their masks on at all times and provide other necessary personal protective equipment when needed. Keep hand sanitisers accessible by placing it at the front of the office, in the pantry, and other areas with more physical touchpoints. Put up posters promoting frequent and thorough hand washing, including other personal hygiene practices. With constant reminders, it ensures that staff are practicing good personal hygiene and keeping themselves safe.
Go the extra mile to encourage them to play their part in keeping a clean working environment by engaging in regular housekeeping practices such as disinfecting their work desks and devices at the end of the day. It is also vital to actively monitor unwell staff in order to protect all employees from the risk of getting transmitted.
SafeEntry
Ensure that all employees and visitors use SafeEntry before entering and leaving the workplace. If they do not have a QR code scanner, keep a record of their particulars together with the date and time they enter and leave the place. Carefully screen every personnel entering the working space by taking their temperature and ensuring that they have declared the following:
a. Currently not under a quarantine order, stay home notice
b. Did not have any close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case in the past 14 days
c. No fever or flu-like symptoms
Employees are the pillar to the success of a business so it is important to keep them safe and healthy. There is nothing wrong in being more stringent in rules and regulations in order to protect them from the virus. Always remember to practice good personal hygiene and safe distancing as everyone slowly starts going back to work. For more information about the requirements workplaces should follow, visit MOM’s website to learn more.
2. Actively communicate your plans to staff and customers
Once you have all the health and safety regulations in place to prepare for your business reopening, go beyond just strictly adhering to it. Keep your employees and customers in the loop on what your company is doing to keep them safe and what they can do to mitigate the risk of transmission.
Have a clear and direct communication strategy and platform to reach out to them. According to Tracy Hansen, president (North America) and global CMO of ProGlove, she told CO— (US chamber of commerce), “Communication is critical”, especially when there is so much uncertainty and with many unanswered questions from employees, they have been communicating even more to make sure everyone is updated.
Prepare a unified message for all your employees and reach out to them via a shared portal, be it through emails, Zoom calls or other form of communication platforms. Ensure that your staff are well informed of your company’s efforts in keeping them safe. Many employees choose not to go back to work because they are worried about their health and safety, but if your company has been playing its part to actively communicate with them and give them assurance about strict protocols, they will start returning to their workplaces.
Don’t forget about your customers and clients as well, they are the foundation of your business. Give them an overview of what your company is doing to ensure one’s safety. Share your reopening plans on social media, EDMs, and other touch points, including physical ones like in store messages at cash registers or entrances. Lastly, provide them with regular updates, be open to feedback and stay adaptable.
Visuals and copywriting are very important factors when communicating your health and safety plans to your customers. Engage a creative agency to help showcase your plans to ease their worries, be it through social media posts, physical posters, or videos. Use this to build connection and trust among your customers so that when you reopen, they feel safe to patronise your business.
3. Get the word out
After implementing the above 2, the last thing you should do to get your business ready for reopening is to boost your marketing efforts and create awareness. Reopening quietly means that you are unable to generate traffic and potential customers to your business on the first day. Use various communication platforms to spread the news, create buzz and anticipation so that customers look forward to patronising on the day of your reopening. Social media is a very useful channel to create awareness for your business and with the right marketing strategy, your business will slowly start to pick up. Unsure on how to utilise social media to your advantage? Engage a company that offers digital marketing services to help you promote your reopening. They are equipped with the knowledge and skills to build brand awareness and reach out to targeted groups of customers.
Additionally, your business might be competing with other similar businesses that are reopening together with you, so in order to attract customers, you can consider running promotions. It gives that extra push to convince them to purchase your products or services. It is also a good chance to clear surplus stock and make way for new inventory.
It is never too early to prepare for a reopening as we slowly move into phase one of readjusting back into society. Keep your company and customers constantly updated with the latest information to build relationships and bond so that your business can remain at the top of the game even during reopening.
Make The Change is a social enterprise that offers creative services including digital marketing, graphic designs, photography and videography. Reopening and creating awareness for your brand can be done easier and smoother with us. Click here to learn more about our services.