How to Unfurlough: Introducing the ‘Return to Work’ Trello board
Conceived, researched and designed by Lou Shackleton and Emily Bazalgette. Writing by Lou Shackleton and Emily Bazalgette (@emrosebaz).
*Updated September 2021 following news of the Furlough Scheme ending on 30th September 2021. Source: Gov.UK.
Unfurling: Release from furled state; unfold (Source: Merriam-Webster)
Unfurloughing: Releasing an organisation from crisis state; releasing capacity; refreshing teams
Go straight to the Trello board
Go straight to the Professional Development Perspective and tips
Back in May 2020, it was widely reported that more than one in five British workers had been furloughed. The largest 100 charities have furloughed more than 33,000 staff according to a survey carried out in April and May by Charity Finance (Source: Civil Society website). The National Trust has reported the highest proportion of its staff — 80% of its workforce (Source: Civil Society, as before).
In a way, this is great news for charities. Their fundraising or income-generating activities — sales through charity shops and large scale fundraising events — have been severely curtailed by the restrictions introduced to reduce the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Using the furlough scheme helps charities to survive in this difficult environment, covering some of their lost income.
At some point, these furloughed staff will come back to work — and with the Furlough Scheme ending on September 31st 2021, this date will be drawing ever closer. A lot of organisations had to write a new furlough policy when these new measures came into force. As these organisations start to see staff return, they may also be adapting a return to work policy for people coming back from furlough. Organisations may have had the first furloughed staff back for a while now, and are now looking at a final phase of returning staff.
In this article, we’ll focus on the human side of furlough: emotions, what it could mean for team dynamics, and professional development perspective, and. We also provide two tools:
- An approach that gives purpose and perspective to the person returning from furlough and those around them — becoming a critical friend who can support you to learn and reflect on what’s changed during Covid-19
- A Trello board to help your organisation support people returning from furlough, practically and emotionally
Read on to understand the emotional context of furlough.
The human side of furlough, and what it can mean for team dynamics
People who have been furloughed experience a mix of emotions: guilt, embarrassment, overwhelm, relief, concern, shame. It is natural to feel unimportant or not needed, whilst also feeling powerless and helpless that other members of the team are still working. After finding a new pattern to daily life and managing care or home schooling commitments for weeks, it’s time to return to work. What might you feel coming back to work?
- New sense of guilt on seeing colleagues who’ve clearly been working hard whilst you haven’t been at work, they’ve had to do things they haven’t done before
- Guilt if you feel refreshed and restored by your time away
- Guilt if you’d been working in a frontline role, because of the people who have needed support in your absence and feeling that you’ve let them down
- Out of your depth — a whole load of decisions may have been made while you were away, you feel you want to catch up… but is it really possible to catch up on weeks and weeks away?
- Overwhelmed — how on earth am I going to catch up?
- Confused — where do I start? What’s my role now?
For those people who haven’t been furloughed, who have been at work for the past weeks and months, there is also a mix of emotional reactions. These team members have likely been under additional pressure, managing a new and more complex workload, whilst other members of the team were furloughed. The nature of the work may have changed entirely as organisations respond to government restrictions and changed demand. These are unique times, and there is no single ‘right’ way to feel. If you’ve been working throughout, it would be natural to feel a combination of relief, resentment, and embarrassment as your furloughed colleagues return to work.
Professional development: What can we learn from other types of ‘Return to Work’ scenarios?
Many organisations already have policies and procedures in place for people returning to work after extended sick leave or parental leave, and for on-boarding new starters. There’s a lot we can learn from the best practices in these scenarios, which can include:
- Phased return to work with reduced hours, lighter duties, or different duties
- Keeping in touch
- Orientation / induction week (which can include the use of dedicated, personalised Trello boards for new starters)
- Using a ‘Blue Tape’ approach and list (from RandsinRepose)
- Checking to see if any support needs have changed, and making reasonable adjustments
- Agreeing on a plan for the first days, weeks, and months
- Setting up reviews at key milestones
We have translated these approaches into a Trello board for you to adapt and implement within your team. Head to Trello to copy the board. Just as people create a new board for each new starter, you can do the same to make a personalised board for each member of staff returning from furlough.
Two tools to help with unfurloughing:
- Read the Professional Development Perspective and tips
- Access the Trello Return to Work board — make a copy, adapt it, make it your own
