The last weeks for the country have created a new brand of normal that is anything but for most of us.  Most of the country is currently still under some form of a shutdown order due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  At the onset, essential businesses scrambled to establish protocols to allow their employees to continue to work, and nonessential businesses have had to shut down and either transition employees to remote work, or place employees on leave, furlough or layoff. 

The CDC guidance as well as a myriad of state and local orders continue to change.  For example, Colorado’s State-wide Stay at Home order transitioned as of April 27th to a “Safer at Home” recommendation while Denver’s Stay at Home order was extended to remain in place until May 8th.  This poses significant challenges for employers looking to keep businesses afloat, remain in compliance, and keep employees and customers safe. 

With that in mind, many companies are strategizing how to return employees to the workplace—no small task.  Any return to work plans will require flexibility, creativity, and consideration of complicated legal, logistical, and practical issues.  

When to Return Employees back to the Workplace

•  Determining when to return employees and whether to implement a phased return. How will employees be notified, and with how much notice?
• Selection of employees to return to work. Decisions regarding furloughed and recently laid off employees.
• What will the job look like when employees return (full-time, part-time, in-person, remote).
• Process for determining if individual employees are safe to return. Protocol for returning employees who have tested positive or may have been exposed.
• Protocols to address employee logistical challenges, such as lack of child/senior care, limited public transportation, and employees who may fear returning to work.
• Process to handle return and inventory of all employer-owned or leased equipment

Development and Implementation of Social Distancing

•  Changes to open workspace configuration.
• Repurposing of conference rooms, lunch rooms, and other communal spaces to allow for more distance.
• Installation of physical barriers.
• Reconfiguration of work schedules and/or shifts to limit the number of employees physically present in a specific office, facility, plant, or other work location at any one time.
• Implementation of full-time and/or part-time work-from-home arrangements for positions where it is feasible.

Development and Implementation of Additional Workplace Health/Safety Protocols

• Daily temperature checks and other screening protocols.
• Periodic employer-provided COVID-19 testing when such testing is more widely available for all employees.
• Development of an action plan in the event an employee tests positive for COVID-19, such as to whom does the employee provide notice if he or she tests positive, what information is the employee required to disclose, how is the information provided and with whom is it shared.
• Personal protective equipment and other safety equipment (employer-provided face masks, gloves).
• Handwashing protocols.
• Periodic deep cleaning of office, facility, plant, and/or other work locations by a professional cleaning service.

 Development of Additional Policies

• Updating COVID-19 related policies, such as COVID-19 related paid sick/paid leave, travel policies, social distancing protocols and safety-related policies.
• Confirm accuracy of sick, vacation and PTO banks and ensure compliance with COVID-19 related leave laws.

 Considerations for a “New Normal” Workplace

• Employees’ increased expectations for flexibility in work location and time, following significant changes to many businesses in moving to remote and flexible work.
• Increased focus on a contact-free workplace and economy.
• Desire for changed / different benefits, including in areas of health and wellness.

Considerations for Other Workers and Visitors in the Workplace

• Determine how, if at all, the above health and safety, social distancing, and other protocols above for employees will apply to vendors, customers, contractors, delivery workers or staffing agency workers when they are in the workplace.

There is not a single one-size-fits-all solution but the items above are issues that should be considered when developing a return to work strategy.

What tips/areas are your firms considering as part of your return-to-work strategy? Share them in the comment box below.

Anne McNeely, CDFA, is the  Project Administration Manager for Fentress Architects in Denver, CO.

She currently serves as the 2019-2020 SDA National Secretary. 

Role models are important because they help guide us in the right direction as we make life decisions, they provide inspiration and support when we need it, and they offer their experiences with similar obstacles or struggles.  Throughout our lives, we will have several different role models, from our parents and coaches to peers and bosses.  These people are integral influences in our lives and our careers.  So how do you know if you are a role model?  And why is it important?

There is no ceremony commemorating one’s transition into a “role model.”  Often times, this is a gradual transition that seamlessly happens throughout the years.  A Canstruction team member who becomes a team captain, who then joins the event planning committee and eventually chairs the event.  Another example could be someone who participates regularly with local Habitat for Humanity events and then steps up to serve as leader with a local build event like Carter Work Project.  Both of these examples allow for one-on-one connections between those in leadership positions and others, but also the connection between that individual and the organization as a whole.  Have you found yourself serving on a public or community service organization board?  Have you helped make significant sustained contributions to that organization?  Then you are a role model.

A role model is a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people.^[1]    When we are younger, we look up to our role models for inspiration and use this as a blueprint for how to achieve success and happiness.  It’s important for SDA members to serve as role models because it will help each member continue their personal and professional growth, continue to practice model behavior, and guide future generations of leaders.  Role models are not perfect, they are human, and they make mistakes.  Don’t be afraid to step up and explore the benefits you gain from serving others.  You may be surprised how much you get back in return. 

One of the criteria to become an SDA Fellow is to be a role model.  Have you discovered that you already are a role model and didn’t even know it?  If so, you may be eligible to submit for the 2021 Fellows Class.  If you haven’t taken that step to serve as a role model yet, evaluate your opportunities to do so in order to continue your leadership path and maximize your growth potential.

Sarah Wallace, FSDA is the Chair of the SDA Fellows and is a member of the SDA Atlanta Chapter. 

The gut reaction in some A/E firms is to first ‘fire all the administrators,’ a statement made by Frank Stasiowski in an article advising on how to get through the 2008-11 recession.  Here is why that’s bad advice.

Now, more than ever, administrators have specific skills and duties that are always necessary, such as project administration, spec preparation, payroll, finance, as well as the specialized software knowledge to manage all of those functions such as Newforma, Vision, Ajera, Masterspec, and Quickbooks.  They’re also the ones who maintain a relationship with your bank’s loan officer for your line of credit, manage your Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable. So why would they be the first to go?  The business of architecture and engineering has become much more complicated since 2011.  Keeping the business personnel in your office allows you, the design professionals, to do what you do best--design.  Isn’t your time better spent reaching out to clients, asking if they’re in need of anything, such as help on scheduling issues, coordinating with other consultants or construction firms on their behalf, rather than collecting timesheets and making sure the billing still goes out?  Your business personnel are the ones with existing knowledge and relationships with the bank and insurance companies.  The first thing that happens in a down economy is construction companies start filing lawsuits. That’s when you need access to A|E business networks like SDA.  Why spend your valuable time trying to get up to speed in any one of those areas?  The COVID19 virus pandemic is a marathon not a sprint, and just as it is hard to find good architects and engineers (heck any architects and engineers), it is very hard to find an administrator who knows Vision or Ajera.  Ask more of your administrators, yes, just like you’re going to ask more of your technical personnel to compensate for possibly sick personnel or family members but maintain your staff levels.  Everyone in your firm is probably more capable than you think, when asked to step up.  Let’s all step up together.     

Share the Pain. Wouldn’t it be fairer for everyone to take a 10-15% pay cut or reduce everyone’s hours by 10% and keep the family that is your firm working hand in hand to overcome this challenge?  Come August or September when things start getting back to normal and everyone is in a rush with accelerated schedules, do you really want to spend time and energy hiring and training new people?  The new OASDI or social security tax relief passed today will provide you with some relief. The example below shows that the new legislation just passed could save you $120,000 or the salary of at least 2 or 3 of your lowest paid employees for a 20-person firm.    

$5,000,000 gross revenue

$3,000,000 net revenue

$2,100,000 labor expenses

$1,575,000 labor expenses last 3 quarters

$120,488 7.65% of labor – savings under new tax relief

And, you also do not want your unemployment coefficient to go up because your fired employees file for unemployment.  The these firings will follow you for three years into the future. 

Think long-term.  Some of the strategic planning tasks administrative staff can be working on:

• Have marketing brush off or write a 5-year marketing plan.  Research new project types you’re interested in pursuing
• Have accounting write up accounting manuals – especially in the event this crisis lasts longer than we think. There are no accounting manuals for Ajera, Vision, or QB out there.
• Have human resources keep up with all available information on the business aspects and effects of the COVID19 virus.  Examine your employee handbook and note any policies that are in discrepancy with practices you’ve implemented to adapt to the situation. Write a pandemic policy for now and the future.
• Clean up those databases, libraries, storage unit, employee files, plan files
• Develop standards for CADD.
• Emphasize over-looked training and new certifications that will position individuals and the firm in a better place when the pandemic ends.  

Take the Lead.  Show your clients and employees you have the business savvy to weather this storm.

What are your firms doing to weather the storm? Share your ideas in the comment box below.

Deborah Gill, CPA, FSDA is the Owner of Profit by Design in Norfolk, VA