Returning to work post COVID-19? We’re sharing our best practices and resources

• 4 min read

Return to Work Plan | Docebo's Post COVID-19 ResourcesThe first half of 2020 has undoubtedly been a whirlwind – who would have thought that Tiger King would, arguably, be one of the tamest parts of the year so far? If you’re reading this from home, you’re doing great, we applaud you, and thank you for keeping your community safe.

Throughout this time, the world has remained committed to banding together (while keeping at least six feet apart) to fight the spread of this virus. We’re all now used to maintaining a level of diligence, care, and protection for total strangers, that we would for our own families. That’s pretty special to consider, and we believe it says a lot about the nature of humans to protect one another.

Businesses are now beginning to reopen around the world, including Docebo’s office located just outside of Milano, in Biassono 🇮🇹. We recently had the pleasure of chatting with Francessca Bossi, Docebo’s Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), in a brief Q&A about how our Italian office began tackling COVID’s next biggest challenge: safely reopening. We’re excited to share this with you, along with takeaway resources to support your own business reopening plans.

Francesca, tell us, when did the Docebo Italian office re-open? 🚪🚶🏽

“Docebo Italy worked entirely remote for more than three months! Once the Italian case numbers began to take a more significant and positive turn, we decided to reopen our offices in Biassono on the 3rd of June. We reopened this office only after we observed all of the necessary circumstances that would ensure adequate levels of protection for all of our employees. It was first and foremost our highest priority and concern, as this is our family too.

We assembled a re-entry plan that has involved about 20% of colleagues, as an initial test, where we alternate the teams so that everyone can meet again in the next few weeks. The plan is to subsequently and gradually increase the attendance percentage, based on the general trend of the pandemic.”

Can you tell us a bit more about how your team planned for the reopening? 📝💼

“The health emergency related to the spread of COVID-19 has required us to identify the appropriate measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus within our workplaces. Our two-fold goal was initially and remains to be:

  1. Protecting the health of employees and visitors who have access to company sites
  2. Ensuring we continue to run a successful business

In the spirit (and admitted excitement 🎉) of seeing our dearly missed colleagues again, we formalized our “Re-entry Plan”. We have distributed this through prompt and diligent communication to all of our Italian colleagues on a regular cadence, which describes the measures we will take in the office from now on until the return of our normal company operations.

We have also assembled what we’ve deemed the “Recovery Team”. This was set up during the emergency and is made up of HR, Security, and Operations Team leaders that are involved in monitoring the situation during all of the transitions and transaction phases until the situation normalizes definitively at a global level.”

This team is responsible for implementing relevant re-organization measures such as:

✅ Ensuring regular communication on changes and developments
✅ Supporting the implementation of the recommended hygiene measures

So tell us, what does the new normal look like at the office? 👀

“Docebo’s priority number one still is, and will always be, to protect our Docebian family. 🔒 This means supporting staff and their respective family members as well – especially those who come from higher transmission areas or who are at higher risk for severe illness.

Because of this, our re-entry plan has not mandated employee participation. 💙 Those who preferred to keep working from home have remained at home, and those who, for personal or professional reasons preferred instead to return to the office, have sent us a request.

That said, the re-entry is proceeding in the best way we could imagine! We’re beyond happy to see each other again, and that friendly and familiar office spirit we’ve missed so much has begun to bud again as we walk together (at a safe distance from each other 😉) into this new season of beginnings and re-entering.

While we’re excited to embrace each other (air high-fives only, for the time being) and be near each other, we’ve emphasized that we must respect some simple but very important precautions to ensure serenity and safety in our workplace (like wearing a mask while talking to people 😷, and maintaining social distancing while having people around). The layout of our offices and the arrangement of the furnishing have also been slightly revised, so as to adhere to the new health and security protocols.” 👩🏽‍💻

We heard you’re sharing some resources that could help support other organizations as they reopen. Fill us in! 🗒️✍🏼

“To help employees and third parties respect and enforce the new safety measures, we have collaborated with our internal graphic designers to create beautiful sets of wall signage that have been posted throughout our Italian offices. We want to make these resources publicly available and editable so they may serve the wider community. They outline:

⚠️ New desk and workstation layouts

⚠️ Required safety distance measures and precautions

⚠️ New access methods (For Docebo, this includes a thermal scanner device connected with our access control app)

⚠️ Precautionary and sanitary regulations for the use and cleaning of meeting rooms and common areas

⚠️ General hygiene rules (i.e. avoiding touching the eyes, mouth, and face with hands, washing hands often, etc.)

⚠️ How to dispose of potentially contaminated waste (i.e. masks and gloves) into specific containers.

We are very happy to bring “ready to use” resources to the community. Accountability is a key pillar of Docebo’s core values, and because of this, we feel it our responsibility to share our know-how on this matter to help other companies that do not have internal resources to set up similar signage.”

We’re all in this together 🌎🌍🌏

At Docebo, we’re fortunate to be able to look to our global Docebian family for support to big-sister us through our workspace reopenings in different regions. It’s our hope that each reopening will be even more successful than the last.

Whether you’re actively planning your office reopening, or already in full swing, we hope that you’ll find these resources helpful in your journey. We are rooting for you!

Love always,

Your friendly (global) neighbors at Docebo

Return to Work Plan | Docebo's Post COVID-19 Resources