To build back better on an organisational level, we will need to take a collaborative approach and recognise the importance of employee engagement and voice. Including employees in planning and decision-making processes, especially when reopening the workplace, is undoubtedly the best way forward. Our recent Supporters Network Webinar spoke on these topics, where we discussed how employers can harness the power of people within their organisation to overcome the challenges faced during this time.

Disabled people face many barriers, both in recruitment and in the workplace. Especially amid the current pandemic, there is significant risk that employers intensify this through lack of consideration and proactive policy when reopening. We ran our second Equality Issues Supporters Network Webinar on this topic, where we equipped Supporters with the knowledge to properly support disabled people in their workforce during this time and moving forward. 

Excellent people management has been vital to organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic, with challenges arising as our workplaces have changed form. In partnership with CIPD, the professional body for experts of people in work, we ran a Supporters’ Network Webinar exploring People Management in different and continually changing circumstances. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed inequalities, both in and outside of the workplace. Employers need to create plans to tackle this, ensuring that their approaches do not disproportionately affect people, or undo progress made in these areas prior to the pandemic. Our latest Supporters’ Network Webinar focused specifically on the BAME community, key workers and the real living wage, and pay equity among leaders and their workforce.

Many organisations adopted home working as a rapid response to the crisis, but it is becoming clear that this is now a longer-term situation. Speakers in our recent Supporters’ Network Webinar offered advice on home working, both in terms of employees coping from an ergonomic and mental health perspective, and in terms of effective remote management.

COVID-19 has affected work in all sectors and industries; adjusting the way many people work and highlighting practice that may not translate to a post-lockdown world. Our recent Supporters’ Network Event explored how we can ‘Build Back Better’ following lockdown, using this as an opportunity to ensure that the Good Employment Charter can be used to deliver stronger, fairer working standards for all.