Health

HE A LTH • Summer 2021 9 taining their workforce. "If organizations aren't willing to go ahead and look at ways to create f lexi- bility, they're just going to miss out on the talent pool, because that talent pool is now demanding that this change is permanent," Foley said. Navigating the shift back to post- pandemic work life doesn't need to become a game of will-power between employer and employee, though. It might, instead, help to have a shift of perspective. According to Cunningham, what he's seeing is an increased interest in shift- ing toward project-based work in lieu of strictly hourly-based work, also known as the management-by-objective model. Combined with implementing systems to track and control progress, Foley said, he's seeing a lot of success with this type of approach to employee management. Employees get the f lexibility they want, and employers are able to make sure work is completed. "Employees want to come back to work because they're craving the social aspect of it, but those that don't and don't feel comfortable, they still have the ability to interact and perform with- out disrupting the organizational model," Foley said. Navigating the vaccine divide For workplaces, though, the issue of bringing employees back to the office is a bit more complicated than navigating shifting workforce priorities. Companies – especially larger ones, or those whose workers are client-facing – are struggling to decide what to do with an employee pool containing both those who are and who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus, an issue affect- ing not only the physical makeup of work spaces but how and when to bring workers back to the office. Joe Deliso, founder of Blackstone Management and Consulting in Sutton, said while he's definitely seen a shift toward project-based employment mod- els, the No. 1 problem his clients are facing is how to bring people back in the first place. "Employees, when they come into the facility, they want to know who's vacci- nated and who isn't," Deliso said. "This is a reality. They want to know if the person they're talking to is vaccinated or not." One of his clients, he said, split work- ers by vaccination status, providing each group their own separate work areas and break and restroom facilities. But the challenge doesn't always end there. Other clients, he said, have found they have unvaccinated workers who are using their unvaccinated status as leverage to continue working remotely, noting they do not feel safe working in person but do not have plans to get vaccinated, either. "But they don't want to lose the person," Deliso said, "So this is the dilemma." Although he's seen it happen to a limited degree, most employers are not currently opting to terminate employ- ees who refuse to return in person, Deliso said, explaining management doesn't want to be forced to draw that type of line. For those he works with, these are the conversations taking up most of their H RING Seven Hills Foundation is n Nursing Administrator for Seven Hills Community Services n RNs & LPNs for children at SHPC and adults with disabilities n Certified Nursing Assistants* for children in our Pediatric Skilled Nursing Community (SHPC) *$2,000 sign-on bonus! n Direct Support Professionals for adults with disabilities and brain injury in our community-based homes We offer competitive salaries and hourly rates as well as Blue Cross Blue Shield MA health & dental, 3 weeks paid vacation, 11 holidays, tuition reimbursement/remission, and more! Apply online at sevenhills.org/careers. 81 Hope Avenue, Worcester, MA 01603 • 508.755.2340 • sevenhills.org Work-from-home benefits In a 2021 national survey, the data firm Statista asked employees to rank the benefits of working from home. time -- maintaining a level of coronavi- rus-induced f lexibility isn't the priority just yet. Rather, it's a question of how to bring people back to the office at all. 32% Ability to have a flexible schedule 25% Flexibility to work from any location 22% Not having to commute 11% Ability to spend time with family 8% Ability to work from home The Tennessee-based insur- ance company Unum has 100% left its downtown Worcester office building, after having all of its Central Massachusetts employees switch to working from home. Source: Statista H PHOTO/GRANT WELKER

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