#05 - COVID Concerns - GBA Member Plans to Return Employees to the Office

COVID Concerns - GBA Pop-Up Town Hall Meeting for May 22, 2020 - GBA Member Plans to Return Employees to the Office

Senior leaders of GBA Member firms have been invited to attend Pop-Up Town Hall meetings over the last couple months in response to the dynamic events related to the COVID-19 pandemic to discuss issues that impact geoprofessional firms. Panels of experts have discussed operational issues, health and safety, and leadership through these unprecedented times. GBA hopes to address its members questions and concerns by sharing experiences and challenges in the hopes to learn and help each other during this trying time.

GBA addresses its members questions and concerns by sharing experiences and challenges in the hopes to learn and help each other during this trying time.

Our panel:

• Joel Carson host and GBA Executive Director – Link to Profile
• Craig Hill, President/CEO at Earth Systems, Inc. - [Link to Profile]
• June Jewell, CPA - AEC Business Success Expert, Speaker, Author - [Link to Profile]
• Michael Yost, COVID Task Force Lead for Terracon - [Link to Profile]

Topics for discussion include:

• What are member firms doing to prepare employees for an eventual return to the office? [min 3:30]
• What are member firms doing to prepare their facilities to ensure they are safely prepared to reopen? [min 12:25]
• What are member firms hearing from their employees and their desire to go back to the office? [min 21:31]
• How do you come up with a companywide plan to open back up when you have offices across the United States? [29:28]
• What changes do you see in the long term, past Covid-19 that may change what geo professional firms will do in the future? [min 36:55]
• Cont… How might this effect office leases? [42:25]
• How do you continue to stress covid safe behavior with your work force especially when they may see difference behaviors on job sites, around their community, and they themselves may have different views on the topic? [min 46:20]
• The big silver lining in all of this…? [min 50:35]
• How are you handling travel, both business and personal? [min 54:25]
• What are you member firms doing about conference rooms? [min 55:56]

Calls-to-action:

• Visit the GBA Website at https://www.geoprofessional.org for more information about Covid-19 resources and/or to become a member
• Visit the GBA Website for training resources and reference material for professional development that could be helpful during a slow time.
• Visit https://www.gbapodcast.com for future Podcast Episodes
• Contact us at info@geoprofessional.org with any podcast-related questions or comments

This episode was produced by the following GBA Members:

• Ryan White, PE, GE – Principle/Geotechnical Engineering Group Manger/PBS Engineering and Environmental
• Tiffany Vorhies, NACE CIP-2 – Chief Consultant/SME
• Donald K. Blackburn, MBA – Business Manager/Blackburn Consulting
• Shawn Leyva, PE – Associate Senior Engineer/Crawford & Associates