Reopening to a Healthy Work Environment in Your Contact Center

Returning employees to an on-site contact center requires more than reopening the doors. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of having a structured workplace strategy that considers employee health, facility conditions, workforce flexibility, communication, and business continuity. Many of the lessons learned during the 2020 reopening period remain useful today when organizations prepare for health-related or operational disruptions.

• Build a Structured Workplace Plan
• Assess Workplace Risk and Prepare the Space
• Manage Your Workforce Strategically
• Support and Communicate With Employees
• Turn Reopening Lessons Into Business Continuity
• About Call Center Services International

Build a Structured Workplace Plan

When this article was originally published in July 2020, contact centers around the world were determining how to safely bring employees back to facilities after the initial COVID-19 lockdowns. CCSI had already implemented workplace prevention measures and expanded its Work-From-Home operations as conditions evolved.

One of the most important lessons from that period was the value of having a structured plan before a disruption occurs. Organizations should define clear objectives, identify critical activities, assign responsibilities, involve the appropriate operational and technical teams, and periodically review the plan as conditions change.

Consider Both Operations and Employees

A workplace plan should consider more than physical facilities. Changes in schedules, work locations, team structures, processes, and expectations can also affect employees. Clear communication, accessible support, training, and opportunities for employees to raise concerns can make transitions easier to manage.

Maintaining a strong company culture during periods of change can also help teams remain connected and informed, whether employees are working on-site, remotely, or in a hybrid operating model.

Assess Workplace Risk and Prepare the Space

Workplace conditions should be evaluated according to the type of operation, employee interaction, facility layout, current health conditions, and applicable public health and occupational safety guidance.

Identify Higher-Risk Areas and Activities

Contact centers can review areas where employees interact frequently or where groups may gather, including operations floors, training rooms, cafeterias, breakrooms, entrances, elevators, and other shared spaces.

A workplace assessment can help determine whether operational changes, scheduling adjustments, improved ventilation, modified layouts, remote-work options, or other controls may be appropriate.

Pay Attention to Indoor Air Quality

One important lesson that became more widely recognized during the pandemic is the role of indoor air quality. Current workplace guidance emphasizes adequate ventilation and air filtration as tools for reducing exposure to respiratory illnesses.

Organizations should evaluate their building systems and work with qualified professionals when necessary. Current recommendations can be reviewed through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other applicable public health authorities.

Maintain Appropriate Cleaning and Hygiene Practices

Contact centers contain many shared and frequently touched areas and devices. Organizations should maintain appropriate cleaning practices for workstations, keyboards, mice, headsets, dining areas, door handles, and common spaces based on current workplace requirements and facility needs.

Employers can also support good hand and respiratory hygiene by making appropriate supplies available and communicating workplace procedures clearly.

Use Current Health Guidance

Some measures commonly used during the initial 2020 reopening period — including universal temperature screening, fixed distancing requirements, and other COVID-specific protocols — belonged to the conditions and guidance of that time.

Today, employers should follow current recommendations rather than automatically continuing historical COVID-19 protocols. Current CDC guidance encourages people experiencing respiratory illness to stay home while sick and provides additional precautions for returning to normal activities. Employers can review the latest recommendations directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Manage Your Workforce Strategically

The reopening period also demonstrated that workforce planning can be as important as facility planning. Organizations with flexible staffing models can respond more effectively when employee availability or operating conditions change.

Use Phased or Flexible Staffing When Appropriate

During the original 2020 reopening, many organizations returned employees to facilities in groups rather than moving entire teams at once. Although the specific health conditions have changed, the underlying principle remains useful: major workforce transitions are often easier to manage when they are planned and implemented deliberately.

Workforce Management teams can help organizations evaluate staffing requirements, schedules, coverage, employee availability, and service levels before making major changes to where or how teams operate.

Maintain Remote-Work Capabilities

One of the clearest operational lessons from COVID-19 was that remote work can provide more than an emergency response. A properly managed Work-From-Home Contact Center model can become part of a broader workforce and business continuity strategy.

Organizations may choose to combine facility-based and remote employees according to operational requirements, employee roles, client policies, security requirements, geographic availability, and performance objectives.

CCSI's current Work-From-Home model incorporates operational and security controls, real-time productivity monitoring, and workforce redundancy alongside its facility-based operations. This allows remote work to function as an integrated operating model rather than simply an emergency measure.

Support and Communicate With Employees

Operational transitions can affect routines, team relationships, workspaces, schedules, supervisors, and expectations. Organizations should communicate changes before they occur and give employees clear information about what will be different and where they can find support.

Educate and Prepare Your Teams

Employees should understand new procedures, workplace expectations, available resources, escalation paths, and any changes to their responsibilities before transitioning between operating environments.

Supervisors and managers play an important role in reinforcing these procedures and answering questions. Training should be updated whenever processes, technology, client requirements, or operating conditions change.

Listen to Employee Concerns

Communication should work in both directions. Leaders can ask employees about the challenges they are experiencing, identify areas where additional support is needed, and address concerns that may affect engagement or performance.

Recognition, team-building activities, retraining, leadership communication, and opportunities for professional development can help employees reconnect with the organization after significant workplace changes. These principles are also part of building a strong contact center workforce and positive employee experience.

Turn Reopening Lessons Into Business Continuity

The lasting value of the 2020 reopening experience is not a particular distancing measurement or screening procedure. The larger lesson is that organizations should prepare before workforce or facility disruptions occur.

A contact center business continuity strategy can consider workforce availability, remote-work capabilities, facilities, technology, information security, communications, management responsibilities, cross-training, and alternative operating locations.

Organizations with multiple operating environments may also have greater flexibility to redistribute work. Professional contact center facilities, remote teams, and appropriate technology infrastructure can provide different options when normal operating conditions are interrupted.

The specific health measures required during future events will depend on the circumstances. What remains important is having a structure that allows an organization to assess risk, communicate decisions, protect its workforce, and maintain customer service as conditions change.

Historical note: First published in July 2020 during the early return-to-site period of the COVID-19 pandemic, this article has been reviewed and updated while preserving its original focus on structured reopening, workforce management, remote work, employee communication, and business continuity. Specific COVID-19 practices such as temperature screening, fixed distancing requirements, and other reopening protocols reflected the conditions and public health guidance of that time; current workplace health recommendations should always take precedence.

Originally published: July 13, 2020
Last reviewed and updated: July 25, 2026