Implementing a Return to Work strategy and program is paramount in fending off COVID-19 and protecting your employees, clients, and visitors from a health, wellness, and safety standpoint. A Return to Work program also protects your physical assets and keeps you moving toward your business goals. EBI wants to help you prepare whatever Return to […]
The Definitive Return to Work Glossary
As employers start planning their return to work strategies, there is new guidance regarding antibody tests. The NBA reinstates drug testing – with one big change, and the NFL is really thankful it asked for a background check. Get the details in EBI’s Screening News Weekly Wrap.
Screening News Weekly Wrap: June 26th, 2020
Employers and employees are facing a slew of new challenges developing practical, safe, and economical return to work policies, procedures, and protocols. One question about drug testing is certainly a stumper: Do employees who’ve been working from home need to be drug tested before returning to the office? We know drug screening helps employers provide […]
Do I Need to Drug Test Workers Returning to the Office?
Businesses will be judged on how they came out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of your success during the coronavirus crisis likely depends on two factors: your industry and your business continuity plan. Unfortunately, for those businesses in hard-hit industries like hospitality, tourism, and retail, even the most robust continuity plan may not be enough to keep you or your employees afloat. That’s a tragedy no one saw coming. Companies who are weathering this crisis well are leaning heavily on their Continuity of Operations Plan, or COOP. These plans provide guidance on implementing and managing business operations so services can be performed in an emergency event. At its core, a COOP examines the risks to your business caused by specific events – catastrophic damage to your headquarters, a data security breach, a meteorological disaster – and assesses how to maintain business operations if one of them should occur. The global spread of COVID-19 has given companies a sobering reminder they should now include a pandemic response in their COOP. Here are six considerations to include in your business operations plan that can significantly improve your response to a similar catastrophe (we hope you never need to deploy it).
Six Considerations to Include in Your Pandemic Response Plan
Deploying a fully operational remote workforce is a huge undertaking, even without the turbulent time crunch brought on by COVID-19. No matter the size of your company - from small businesses to enterprise organizations – these transitions are tough. You need to be fast, agile, and flexible to maintain peak performance and protect your employees’ livelihoods. “Moving forward, whether we like it or not, businesses will be judged on their resiliency and how they came out of this pandemic,” says Bob Capwell, Chief Knowledge Officer at EBI. EBI successfully deployed a fully operational 100% remote US workforce in just 5 days. In the second installment of our two-part series on deploying a remote workforce, EBI’s trusted leaders share a roadmap that should put you on the path to success, too.
Part Two: How to Successfully Deploy a Remote Workforce
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how businesses operate, perhaps permanently. This is evidenced by the number of businesses, from small companies to enterprise organizations, who have had to transition to remote workforces. Deploying a fully operational remote workforce is a huge undertaking, even without the time crunch brought on by coronavirus. From equipment to employee training, your Information Technology department will be responsible for the bulk of the transition. EBI deployed a fully remote and 100% operational US based remote workforce in five days. This week, we present a two-part series about how to successfully manage a similar deployment. In part one, Brent Wettengel, Director of Information Technology at EBI, offers tips for a seamless technology transition.
Part One: How to Successfully Deploy a Remote Workforce
If we didn’t all know it before COVID-19, we do now: working from home is tough. The constant juggling act between work duties, childcare, homeschool, cleaning, fitness, and maintaining emotional connection can leave employees feeling drained, overwhelmed, and frustrated. Adrenaline carried most of us through the first few weeks of this forced remote transition, but now the pace, loneliness, and utter disruption to our routines is starting to fray our nerves. Managers are unfortunately caught in the middle. Your team is looking to you for guidance, support, and confidence. Meanwhile, leadership is sharing potentially dicey business operation projections. Oh, and you’re sharing a home “office” with a partner and two rambunctious children. EBI understands the difficulties of managing remote teams during this pandemic. In fact, our entire staff is 100% remote and fully operational. We have, however, discovered that despite our distance from each other, our team is closer than ever. So, we thought we’d share some of the personal touches that have helped our already savvy managers keep up morale among teams. Read on for inspiration!
Four Ways Managers Can Build Closer Remote Teams
Working from home was a shock for many of us. COVID-19 took the decision out of our hands. At first, we adjusted to this new normal and balanced home school or social distancing with work duties. We set up home “offices” and became literate in remote technology. We helped isolated family, friends, and neighbors cope. Then the novelty wore off and the frustrations and stresses set in. Four weeks into the coronavirus pandemic, our nerves are frayed. But in this time of uncertainty, the ability to have a positive mindset is a key component of our overall health and wellbeing. We turned to EBI’s own Human Resources team for some inspiring ways to boost morale.
Fun Ways to Boost Morale with Your Remote Co-Workers
Hiring is going through rapid changes because of the coronavirus outbreak. Many of these changes impact background checks and drug testing. It may be challenging for human resources professionals to keep track of all these modifications in this chaotic environment. EBI is committed to helping you navigate these new challenges. On Thursday, April 9 at 2:00 pm EST / 11 am PT the EBI Trusted Advisor Program is hosting a 30-minute webinar to discuss updates to screening procedures and drug testing during COVID-19. The webinar features Curt Schwall, Vice President of Compliance & Regulatory Affairs at EBI, and Larry Henry and Denelda Richardson, attorneys at Rhodes Hieronymus. The webinar will be moderated by Jennifer Gladstone, Editor-in-Chief of EBI’s Screening News Network. We hope you can join us for this important webinar. But if you’re swamped, we understand. So, here’s a breakdown of what we’ll be discussing.
Navigating Background Checks and Drug Testing During COVID-19
Working from home looks and feels different for everyone. And when the decision to work remotely is taken out of your hands, the transition can be a shock. That’s the reality for thousands of employees who are now working from home because of COVID-19. In addition to trying to maintain daily work duties, many people are balancing homeschool and caretaking stresses. EBI is committed to helping you navigate this challenging time. We are 100% operational with a fully remote workforce. Even when there isn’t a crisis, a portion of our EBI team is remote. Here are four tips we’ve learned from our experiences to help with your WFH transition.
New to Remote Work? Four Tips to Help Your Transition
Home has fast become the dominant workplace. Whether you’re a seasoned remote employee with a private office or a newly work from home (WFH) rookie set up in your kitchen, the number of remote workers is skyrocketing because of COVID-19. With this surge comes a new set of workplace challenges, which are complicated even more by the number of parents who are balancing home school or caring for ill family members. The EBI Marketing Team is uniquely qualified to help you make the most of this new remote working environment. Even prior to the coronavirus outbreak, half of our team was WFH. Now, we all are. With a few small adjustments, we are just as productive, creative, and cooperative as we were when in the office. Here are five easy-to-implement tips we’ve learned as a team that we hope will help you maximize your remote meetings.
Five Ways to Maximize Remote Meetings
Talent acquisition and retention has changed a lot in just a few short weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak. Many of these changes impact background screening. We’re doing our best to keep you informed about important recruiting, hiring, and human resources issues relating to COVID-19 which may affect how and why you screen. Just this week, we’ve shared these posts on our COVID-19 HR Resources page: What Businesses of All Sizes Need to Know About COVID-19 Should You Stop Hiring During a Pandemic? Three Ways to Streamline Heathcare Screening During COVID-19 Video: COVID-19 Impact on Form I-9 EBI is committed to helping you navigate hiring challenges. Here are five screening tips to help you make the most of this new temporary hiring environment.
Five Screening Tips to Help You Hire During this Coronavirus Outbreak
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