DSM Forward Ask the HR Experts Webinar
The Greater Des Moines Partnership DSM Forward webinar series offers insight on moving the Greater Des Moines (DSM) region forward in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. As plans are made and businesses reopen, The Partnership has put together resources for employers at DSMpartnership.com/DSMForward.
The Ask the HR Experts webinar welcomed guest speakers, Beth Nigut of EMC Insurance Companies, Marci Chickering of Wellmark, Inc., Ryan Sawyer of MidAmerican Energy Company and Amanda Young of Bankers Trust, to answer questions about the impact of the pandemic within the HR industry.
Industry Collaboration
Beth shares that there is tremendous collaboration within the industry right now and an effort to find out what others within the Greater Des Moines (DSM) community are doing at this time. Within the DSM geographical area, Beth says EMC is looking at regulations and constraints, as well as what needs to be done within workspaces. Is working from home something that needs to be long-term? How do companies balance making people feel comfortable with reintegration and/or continuing to serve customers while working from home? Beth says EMC is looking at all sides and reassessing as new information becomes available.
Marci also speaks on the importance of communication and collaboration in order to take care of employees when they return to the office. She says as long as employees are able to stay productive — Wellmark has 98% working from home right now — the focus is more long-term and not rushing to bring them back before it’s deemed safe to do so.
Ryan explains how MidAmerican has implemented safety measures and that workers will be back in the office as of Wednesday, July 1 unless an employee has health conditions or family members that are at-risk in their household.
Amanda highlights that Bankers Trust is continuing to be thoughtful about what return-to-work looks like for the company, considering employee/customer safety, team functionality, individual functionality and employee preference.
Each of the speakers offered insight into communicating reintegration plans to employees, engaging workers who are at home on paid COVID-19 leave, lessons learned surrounding corporate culture, new policies and procedures being considered for telework and more.
See the entire webinar below:
Webinar speaker companies outline their COVID-19 resources at the links below:
You can count on The Partnership to continue to share accurate and fact-based updates as well. See more on COVID-19 here.