Places Matter: Resilience is crucial in the new normal

View the recording of our recent webcast for more on this topic - and register for updates on our complete webcast series dedicated to prevention and preparedness, resilience and recovery in relation to COVID-19.

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It’s mile 24 and your legs are numb. At this point in the race, it feels like there was never a time in your life when you weren’t running. It was dark when you lined up in a corral of shuffling shoes and bodies swaying to inaudible music, waiting for the crack of that starting pistol. It’s mile 24 and the clouds just opened up. It’s piercingly cold, and spectators are packing up their canvas chairs and clever signs—they’re only running to avoid the rain. Your car is parked a few blocks away, and it would be so easy to drop to a trot, slide between the fencing and sneak out with the escaping onlookers.

But it’s mile 24 and you’ve seen worse. You’ve trained through hail and sleet, sore muscles and sprained ankles. It’s mile 24, and you’ve spent months preparing for every contingency, working harder than you thought you could. It’s mile 24 and you’ve got this.

In times of strife and uncertainty, resilience is where planning, effort, compassion and hard work come together. It’s what helps the runner finish her marathon despite mounting obstacles, and it’s what will help us recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking to the future, it is expected companies will seek new, better ways to fortify themselves and foster resilience.

“Even in the midst of this crisis, we see a unique opportunity to connect with the importance of place and understand the impact that the spaces where we spend our lives have on our health, our well-being, our performance and our survival,” Rachel Gutter, IWBI President says. “Our buildings, businesses, and communities can be a part of the fight against COVID-19 if we deploy them wisely. We can position our built environments and our organizational policies and procedures to act as the first line of defense.”

Although many epidemiologists noted a pandemic was expected, they didn’t know when or what name it would take. Now, as people move from responding and reacting to the new normal, the real estate industry has a moment to look forward and reconsider how to create a workforce that not only recovers from this pandemic but will be more resilient in its wake. To succeed, it takes planning on multiple levels. During the third IWBI Places Matter webcast, we spoke to leaders in workplace strategy, performance testing, human resources and leadership to understand how to strategize the return to work—now and for the future.

“Einstein once said, ‘In the midst of every crisis is great opportunity,’” Kay Sargent, WELL AP and Director of WorkPlace at HOK says. “And our industry is on the verge of what could be our Kodak moment. We know that artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, the internet of things, the need to address burnout, stress, well-being, the lack of mindfulness, climate change, and all the economic challenges we might face have created a unique opportunity to take a collective moment and envision the way we should be working. We can really be smart about it and turn what was a crisis into an opportunity for growth.”

To support organizational change, data is key. Addressing the key factors for wellness and health in an organization will be governed by the data and evidence at hand. Interpreting that information is one of the first steps an organization can take to develop necessary processes for the health and safety of its people.

“With the sharing of information now, we can very quickly get on top of the questions and solutions in this time of crisis. The key solution I see is risk assessing your facility,” Vyt Garnys, Ph.D., Managing Director and Principal Consultant of CETEC Group, says. “With the indoor environment quality data you have, use that base of information to make informed choices. Data is crucial to making good decisions.”

To overcome the pervasiveness of this disease, solutions won’t be as simple as hiring a new cleaning company or performing a single test. New processes must lead to sustained change to make places safer and healthier for occupants. Garnys also notes that behavior change and training are vital to these efforts.

But resilient organizations also best succeed when their employees feel supported mentally and emotionally, Tami Ireland, MPH, CHIE, Director of Health Engagement at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care notes.

“As many organizations were handing out pandemic plans, there was a lot of conversation about how to keep the business moving forward. But what about supporting the employees? How do we connect with people to ensure they’re strong and doing well? We’re not just working from home right now—we’re at home because of a crisis and we’re trying to work. That’s different than working remotely,” Ireland says. “We need to plan for psychosocial needs and have a base level of mental health and physical safety in place. We need to find ways to keep people engaged and supported throughout a crisis.”

The panelists note that trust is central to any organization. Fostering trust among staff and the larger workforce is vital to the success of a business as well as the success and resilience of individuals. However, solutions for health and well-being must be personalized. There’s no one-size-fits-all recommendation —but flexibility is key for leaders to keep in mind.

Currently, business executives and officers are looking for feedback and guidance to address these challenges and plan for the future of work. As the decision makers in an organization, leadership teams will rely on wellness experts to help navigate crisis response— both now and in the future.

“Most organizational leaders are still getting their bearings, and it’s critical they have the data and information they need to share with their teams and workforce,” James Papiano, President of James Papiano + Co., says. “Many organizations had policies in place before the COVID-19 event, but they struggled with implementation in the moment. They need people around them who can zero in and articulate what’s important in a time of need.”

As organizations,businesses, individuals and coworkers, families and communities look to the future of returning to work, spaces will take on a refined significance as we adjust to the new normal. Sargent emphasizes moving away from building-centric measurements to embrace the human-centric ones.

“After so many employees have experienced doing their jobs from home, I believe they’ll look at their workplaces in a new light. Offices will become spaces for innovation, ideation and growth. These places will foster collaboration, bring us together and serve the individual needs of the people who occupy them,” Sargent says. “So let’s answer the question of how we’ll create safe spaces to foster that innovative attitude in the future.”

We’re at an inflection point for how we envision working together and the spaces that foster that collaboration. The decisions we make today will have a lasting impact on the health, wellness and safety of the built spaces that populate our communities and connect us all—not just for the weeks and months to come but for decades. IWBI is committed to supporting organizations, buildings and business as they adapt to the impacts of COVID-19. Tune into our regular Places Matter webcast series for more evidence-based strategies and best practices to guide you through these uncertain times.