Six months after the coronavirus pandemic first shuttered offices across the U.S., contractors and design firms have, for the most part, settled into the “new normal.”

距离和其他r safety protocols implemented at jobsites, some firms have returned to pre-closure work routines, albeit in reconfigured office layouts with limited occupancy and mandates for masks and sanitizing surfaces. Others have maintained remote working practices for most staff.

根据人力资源部管理人员的说法，实现这种新的运营连续性，生产力和员工安心的平衡并不容易，这是一件容易的事。Kiewit人力资源副总裁John Shaw回忆说：“我们的一位高管指出，在正常情况下，将我们的大多数办公室工作人员送回家五个月将至少一年来计划。”取而代之的是，随着几天之内实施的州和地方庇护所，“每个人都必须立即决定做什么以及如何做。”

At small and midsized contractors, HR leaders tackled fast-paced operational pivots with fewer resources. “Overnight, they had to become bereavement counselors, experts in infectious diseases and the law, and IT technicians, all on top of their existing responsibilities,” says HR consultant-executive recruiter Juli Smith.

Firms already familiar with remote collaboration technology such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams adapted those tools to handle in-person functions such as training, recruitment and onboarding. However, the transition to a virtual work environment was hardly seamless. The Chazen Cos. of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., had to quickly create work-from-home policies from scratch while also taking into account employees’ personal situations and their roles in the firm.

该公司HR副总裁Lauren Gillett说：“仍然给许多员工造成压力的一个明显的挑战是育儿和教学的融合，同时仍保持着专注于工作的关注。”

At the same time, short-term pandemic fixes had to consider the broader impacts. “We still had a long-term business to run,” says Aimee Totaro, HR director for Jaros Baum & Bolles, New York. “Whether we’re in the office or remote, we have to be responsive.”

Communicate Early and Often

Underlying these efforts is a need for transparency and communication to counter rumors and inaccuracies, and to allay employees’ anxiety about whether their benefits, if not their jobs, will survive the coming weeks and months.

“What we know, we tell our people,” says Leah Hanson, HR director for IMCO Construction, Ferndale, Wash. With health care benefits among the biggest concerns, “we got with our carrier early on to alleviate fears employees may have had about losing coverage.”

Along with conducting virtual town halls about the business impacts of the pandemic, many firms have established and continue to maintain dedicated COVID-19 resource pages on their intranets. Zachry Construction Corp. of San Antonio was among the firms to create or adapt company smartphone apps to keep employees in the loop. “Our app has helped us take communication to the next level, replacing our intranet in a lot of ways,” says Jason Westenskow, Zachry HR vice president. “Thank goodness we had it in place before the pandemic arrived.”

Herb Sargent, president and CEO of Sargent Corp., Stillwater, Maine, says a weekly podcast launched in March helped maintain employee morale as pandemic restrictions persisted through the summer. “We’re keeping everyone better informed on project bids and wins, as well as COVID-19 updates,” Sargent says.

Also, a measure of creativity helps address “intangible” aspects, from finding new means of supervision and mentoring to sustaining internal cultures. “When you don’t see people every day, you take a hit,” says Brett Walsh, HR vice president for Graycor, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. “We need to be sure the ‘secret sauce’ of our culture and collaboration is still there.”

With many firms making pandemic-era hires with little, if any, face-to-face interaction, simulating the social aspects of onboarding has been key. Sam Wilson, Mott MacDonald’s North America head of talent acquisition, says by encouraging new staff to participate in virtual activities such as coffee breaks or after-work quizzes, “we make sure they understand what it’s like to be a part of our firm.”

为员工参与和社区提供机会，帮助恢复了JBB的联系，JBB促进了专注于家庭活动的团体，从烹饪和跑步到社交活动。托塔罗说：“与同理心接近这一点表明，公司关心员工正在经历的事情。”

Based on employee feedback, adapting HR functions to a COVID-19 world have been, on the whole, successful. “Employees tell us they feel safe working, and there’s a shared sense that we’re all going through the same thing,” says Hanson. “We keep that in the forefront of our minds.”

“People kept their heads in the game,” agrees Walsh. “We didn’t sense a drop in productivity and engagement, but we recognized that this was new for a lot of people. With the line between life and work already blurred, we focused on work-life integration and being flexible about when things get done.”

The experience also has proved educational for firms like Zachry, which implemented employee-assistance programs such as medical leave donation banks and relief funds. “We’d looked at these programs in the past, but the pandemic pushed us to do them,” says Kirt Krueger, who oversees the company’s benefits. The pandemic magnified the need for short-term disability and caregiving benefits. “When a family member tests positive, it has a domino effect,” he says.

While it remains to be seen when and how the pandemic will unfold, HR administrators are already thinking about what adapted practices may become permanent. Smith says work-from-home flexibility ranks at the top of the list. “Things won’t just go back to the way they were,” she says. “To stay competitive, companies have to be flexible about remote working.”

她补充说，这是公司通过投掷更广泛的招聘网克服当地劳动力短缺的机会。史密斯说：“并不是每个人都想在家工作，但它将为那些具有前瞻性和拥抱它的公司的竞争环境提升。”

Kiewit的Shaw指出，大流行期间技术的有效性可能会导致通过虚拟会议代替短期业务旅行，并扩大培训和人才发展的应用程序。

他说：“我们还将更多地将人力资源通信渠道用作中央信息资源，这是我们最近与海湾飓风所做的。”

人力资源领导者在计划更多的混合动力工作时希望保留许多面对面的元素。威尔逊说：“面对面的环境有助于建立企业文化，与您可能不会遇到的人建立联系，并在所有员工层面上进行指导。”

Gillett admits that while she looks forward to getting back to traditional HR functions like benefits and training, some things that were considered important less than a year ago have been put on hold pending a re-examination of the company’s strategic plan.

她说：“没有水晶球，我们将不得不持续多长时间。”“未来仍然是一项正在进行的工作。”