No matter what governments might think, you cannot just open the economy by press release and policy. Citizens need to feel safe in going about their usual day to day activities and its possible that many people including your employees are not there yet.
In this article from Inc.com Magazine Managing Editor, Lindsay Blake talks to Peter Newell (CEO of Innovation and Problem Solving company BMNT) about how leaders might tackle this challenge.
You can’t manage people’s fears but you can support them. Everyone’s situation and individual concerns and fears are different.
Go deep on what returning to work looks like and all of its ramifications. Understand how people get to work including the implications of public transport. How will your company handle face to face meetings? What about employees with children that need to be monitored for home schooling?
Directly address the stress your employees are going through. Have frank conversations with your staff about finding ways to return to work feeling refreshed.
Read more on this article by Inc Magazine
https://www.inc.com/lindsay-blakely/post-covid-leadership-employees-fear-return-work.html