strategic planning to reopen your business: consulting your internal experts.

Your risk assessment team will determine whether it’s economically and socially responsible for your company to resume operations. Risk assessment takes into consideration key factors such as legal restrictions, your financial security, employee safety and other factors. Review the central government’s guide on risk-assessment for businesses during COVID-19 for more details about this process.

Taking health and safety precautions will be one of the cornerstones of your return to work plan. You will need to adopt rigorous new safety measures to meet government regulations. Your health and safety team will be instrumental in determining what measures are required in your location (or multiple locations) and how to implement them. 

Your finance team will need to analyse overhead costs, estimate payroll, and provide insights into what different reopening scenarios will look like from a financial perspective. Will your organisation lose money in the short-term? If so, how long will it take to return to net positive operations? What expenses can be cut back to reach profitability quicker? You need to know the financial big picture.

Laws and regulations are changing rapidly as governments take steps to protect New Zealanders during the pandemic. Your legal team will ensure that your company’s return to work strategy is in compliance with central, regional and local requirements, and ensure you take necessary measures to safeguard your business and protect your employees.

When developing your return to work plan, HR can provide insights on employee availability (due to layoffs, school closures, etc.), support recruitment to fill gaps in your workforce, and adapt internal policies and protocols to match your post-COVID-19 business realities. Human resources will also be instrumental in supporting your employees through the transition of returning to work. 

Randstad prepared these resources to share best practices to get back to work safely. The information in this document is intended as a guideline only. Please do additional research and consult with experts before making decisions for your business.