A How-To COVID Playbook: Working With HR for Employee Meeting Safety

October 6, 2021 // Educational Series

A how-to Covid playbook with employee safety as a top priority

Human resources management serves as a company’s greatest advocate on behalf of its employees as well as providing a staunch line of defense against issues of liability, making it one of the most critical sectors of any enterprise during uncertain times in global health. metroConnections understands that cultivating productive relationships with our clients’ HR departments is one of the first and most important steps in ensuring employees’ safety at in-person events.

“Our clients’ HR departments want to know our expert opinion on how to navigate the maze of regulations that come with hosting an event in 2021,” says metroConnections Director of Program Management Amy McCollum, “They also want to work with an event partner who is going to ensure that the venue is making employee safety a top priority.”

The process of integrating with a client’s human resources division begins with metroConnections asking a series of detailed questions that will help our staff determine your company’s goals, processes, and procedures relating to in-person events.

“The first step in any great relationship is getting to know each other,” explains McCollum, “Every bit of information that we can gather from a client’s HR team will help us develop a better safety plan for their event.”

During these initial meetings, metroConnections will establish a set of guiding policies surrounding employee health that are synthesized from the client’s internal policies, local regulations at the event’s venue, and best-practices from national resources like the CDC. When clients are able to provide it, metroConnections will also factor-in employee health data such as vaccination status–information that metroConnections treats with the utmost sensitivity and security.

“Our team will crunch the data to make sure the venue is in compliance with all of the client’s policies, as well as local and national regulations,” says McCollum, “We not only want to make sure employees are safe, but also fulfill our client’s original goals for the event from a business perspective.”

Once established, these policies will serve as the foundation for an exacting a detailed safety plan that metroConnections will create and share with our client’s human resources team, as well as the employees themselves, if the client desires. Safety plans include step-by-step instructions for critical contingencies such as conducting testing, contact tracing, self-quarantining, and transport.

“Once the event is underway, nothing is left to chance,” says McCollum, “We’ll work with HR to thoroughly vet our safety plan to make sure every factor is considered, including location-specific details that the client might not have been aware of.”

Ensuring employee safety means that lines of communication are always open between metroConnections and our client’s HR department. During the planning phase, metroConnections will identify whether a representative from HR will be on-site at the event to serve as a point person for all communications, or whether that process will be conducted remotely.

“The flow of communication and information between us and the client’s HR team is continuous, which is crucial because with the realities of COVID, situations can change rapidly,” McCollum explains.

Once the event is finished, metroConnections can conduct a full event recap with our clients, serving as an informational resource to help shape a client’s approach to employee safety at future events, or even on-campus at their own place of business.

“We want to build lasting relationships that ensure lasting safety,” explains McCollum, “Employee health is always at the forefront of our hearts and minds.”

Contact us today to learn more about HR safety strategies we can implement at your next conference or event.