Dubai company introduces colour-coded bracelets for workers to show how they want to be greeted
Employers worldwide face many difficult conversations with employees on how to successfully reintegrate them back into office life, but one media company in Dubai has devised a simple solution to get around the issue of greeting your co-workers - colour-coded bracelets.
As almost 100 staff return to Create Media Group, they can choose between three different colours in a traffic light system which alert their colleagues on their comfort level with being greeted.
Green signifies they are comfortable with a fist bump, yellow indicates they are up for a chat, but no touching while red alerts others to keep their distance.
Tom Otton, managing director of Create, told Reuters the purpose of the scheme was to give individuals autonomy in how they react to the pandemic.
"In terms of personal choice... there is no easy way for people to understand where someone is coming from," Otton said.
Cases of the novel coronavirus have risen sharply in the United Arab Emirates in recent days, topping 67,000. This has left some residents hesitant about returning to work.
"We work in the field of photography and we meet many people, and members of my family at home are very old. I have to take all precautions," Mohammed Abu Youssef told Reuters, the company's social media manager. He has chosen to wear a yellow band, erring on the side of caution.
