As public sector and higher education organizations plan to send their workforces back to the office post-pandemic, many safety precautions will have to be taken into consideration to mitigate the risk for employees. In particular, conceding that COVID-19 is likely not going away -- at least not completely -- means that organizations may have to step in when local health departments are unable to do so. Automation of these processes can help reduce the danger of disease-spreading while also tracking crucial information that impacts the safety and health of the entire organization. Among the new processes organizations will need to introduce, contact tracing ranks high on the list.

At the current time, our nation has the largest expanse of generations in the workplace than at any other point in time in our history. As a result, the opportunity for misunderstandings and tensions in the workplace is at an all-time high. If we are to achieve the goals we have identified and continue to provide for the well-being of our agencies, it is imperative that we pay close attention to this generational divide. Whether you’re currently working in the office or remotely, there’s a good chance your workforce spans a large range of age groups, and taking stock of that will help your agency succeed regardless of where you’re working from.

Though we are hardly out of the woods yet with regards to COVID-19, employers and employees alike are naturally beginning to think about what work life will look like when non-essential personnel return to offices. In particular, public sector agencies may not have the luxury to remain at home indefinitely – or perhaps they never went home at all – because of the nature of the services they provide to local communities.

A recent report from Gartner found that 82% of HR leaders will be involved in the planning of the return to offices. With a plethora of items to consider to not only maintain productivity but also keep everyone safe, HR must put a plan in place to ensure the return to the office is done judiciously and effectively.

Bearing that in mind, we put together an overview for HR leaders to contemplate as they send employees back into the office.

Sometimes, the easiest enhancements are the most effective. We normally don’t highlight small features aside from our product enhancement release notes, because we are constantly making small changes to improve usability. However, we found it fascinating that this Perform enhancement in particular has had such an impact on the navigability of the product. With a singular focus on facilitating task completion for managers and employees, the Perform team introduced a simple feature that changed productivity: the green button.

Securing qualified candidates in the public sector is a challenge, and the longer the recruiting process, the higher the possibility the most qualified candidates will find a role elsewhere. Reducing your organizational time-to-hire is key to landing quality hires - and in order to do that, you need data.

Did you know you can create your own content in Learn? It's as easy as uploading a PowerPoint presentation or video and then building a quiz to measure the viewer's retention of the information.

Here are some quick tips to help you create an engaging and meaningful course in no time:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, HR teams using eForms have been safely delivering and routing forms and workflows between employees and managers. eForms already has pre-built processes that are accessible in the product's Global Library and customizable for each organization's needs, while ensuring compliance. eForms customers have found tremendous value in offering these touchless HR processes.

Here are the five most popular processes in eForms that organizations like yours have been using to support their employees safely and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access these processes in the eForms Global Library:

Mental health is something most of us could do a better job of prioritizing, even in the best of situations. During a time like this, it’s absolutely essential. Whether it’s pushing through anxiety or ignoring nagging feelings of discontent, we are conditioned to keep up productivity at any cost. If you’re working from home, you may have found yourself trying to overcompensate by allowing your workday to bleed into your home life. If so, you’re in good company -- a recent SHRM study found that 41% of employees felt burned out amid COVID-19 struggles. 

In today’s working world, the employee experience is in trouble. Employees in the U.S. are up to twice as likely to be disengaged at work.

And this disengagement can cause problems. Gallup finds that organizations whose employees are actively engaged reap substantial rewards (vs. unengaged peers) such as 41% lower absenteeism, between 24 and 59% lower turnover, and 17% higher productivity. Clearly, organizations simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of the employee experience.

2020 started with the promise that it was going to be my best year yet as an HR professional. I was going to accomplish every resolution this year. From launching a new training program for managers, initiating a diversity & inclusion program, and my personal goal of reading every book I could find on being a first time dad. That all changed when the COVID-19 Coronavirus put much of our lives on pause. The idea of "social distancing," toilet paper hoarding, and sanitizing delivery boxes were completely foreign concepts just a month or two ago. The lifestyle inconveniences turned into real fear as I started witnessing the early effects of this virus that we still don’t have any solutions for.