For RMS, the safety and wellbeing of our employees has always been our number one priority. We refer to our team as the #RMSFamily and, with the Coronavirus crisis having dramatically changed the way we work, ensuring that our staff are safe and well has never been more important.
Here are the measures we implemented to ensure all our employees remained safe during this difficult time:
Collaborative Tools
Back in March, even before lockdown measures were announced, our head office staff had already began to work from home, where possible, in the weeks leading up to the announcement on 23rd March. We had all been following the news. We knew what was coming.
One of our company’s core values is innovation and we have always embraced the benefits of technology as well as flexible working. Thus, working from home and collaborating via Google Hangouts came naturally to those of us who work in the head office. For those who were still working, we communicated primarily via Google Hangouts. Also, every Friday morning over the past 4 months, our CEO has hosted a weekly online briefing session which brings together the entire head office staff. Working in this way has arguably made us more collaborative than ever before.
Our Own ‘Track and Trace’ Tool
An example of our commitment to innovation is the ‘track and trace’ system that was incorporated into flex, our resource management system, at the start of lockdown. It meant that our team members, who were working locally in retail stores across the country, could log onto their flex profile and notify the management team immediately if they were suffering from Covid-19 symptoms. This flagged them up on the system so that they could not be assigned to any future shifts until they had self-isolated and recovered. It also identified other colleagues who had been working recently with that individual.
This function was installed before lockdown, months before the official track and trace was launched. As well as benefiting the company’s operations, most importantly, it kept our people safe.
Keeping it Local
We recognised early on that we would no longer be able to send our staff to work further afield and stay overnight in hotels. We didn’t want to put them at risk miles away from home. We acted quickly to bring everyone home, and only deployed them to local stores which were within easy travelling distance. This solution allowed them to travel alone rather than in shared cars, and they did not have to stay in hotels. In the worst-case scenario, if they did experience symptoms of Covid-19, it meant they could return home to self-isolate very quickly.
Following Government Guidance
As a company who employs a nationwide workforce and works throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, digesting the advice and guidance and translating this into a company policy was a difficult task. This was due to each of the 4 nations that make up the UK (plus he Republic of Ireland) having different rules which changed on a regular basis. Our management team worked diligently to update the company policy and ensure that it didn’t breach any of the official guidance, which at times was confusing and contradictory.
Face Masks
RMS has provided branded face masks to every one of our team members who work in the retail stores. It is our duty to keep not only our own people safe, but to try and ensure the safety of the wider public as well. Each staff member has been provided with 3 masks to allow them to be able to wash them regularly.
Similar to the way we innovate and find ways to do it better, as a company we are constantly looking at new ways to be safer and protect our people. As lockdown eases and we begin to see a return to the ‘new’ shopping experience normality, we will continue to make the health and safety of our people, the staff who work in retail, and the customers, our most important consideration.
RMS is one of the UK’s leading providers of merchandising and retail support staff. We deploy teams of flexible, responsive and highly trained staff, wherever and whenever they’re needed, using flex, our innovative workforce management system.
