Customer Stories: Bridging the Confidence Gap
After a year of living with the pandemic, the desire to return to some semblance of normal is universal. As vaccination programs become increasingly widespread, it’s tempting to believe that we’ll soon be able to emerge from quarantine, easing back into our regular routines with a collective sigh of relief.
Setting a reliable timeline for our global rehabilitation, however, is a non-starter. Country by country — and even city by city — we’re currently seeing a patchy, non-linear pattern of recovery that’s characterized by relaxed restrictions in some regions and renewed lockdowns in others, as new cases rise, recede and emerge again.
At best, it seems we are facing a slow return to life as we knew it.
Not just because of the time it will take for the effects of mass vaccination, virus tracking and quarantining to start meaningfully decreasing infection rates, but also because of the delta between what we perceive to be safe and what is safe.
Resuming our old habits will take a leap of faith. Here in New York, while I’ve been missing meeting up with friends for a night out, I’m remaining ultra-cautious for the time being. I’m wondering: given what we’ve learned about virus transmission, will the idea of returning to a packed exercise class, a crowded club or a standing-room-only concert make us feel good or be anxiety-inducing?
Addressing these physical and mental barriers is the challenge that’s facing many organizations right now. COVID-19 has been especially hard on the events and hospitality sector: It’s painful to walk by the shuttered doors of my favorite restaurants and theaters, knowing that the same worrying prospects are facing companies and their customers in towns everywhere.
We’re all longing for change. But I know that even when restrictions eventually ease, the problems won’t miraculously disappear. Owners and operators will need to find ways to bridge the public confidence gap — confronting the reality that many of us will be nervous about getting on with business as usual, fearful of sharing busy spaces.
Overcoming these perceptions will be as crucial to businesses’ future prosperity as will advancing solutions to make spaces truly safer — like improving air quality and ventilation systems or enhancing cleaning protocols. Unless these measures are made visible to those being welcomed back to public spaces, there will still likely be a reluctance to return to them.
At IWBI, we’re currently seeing a massive uptick in enrollments across WELL Certification and WELL Health-Safety Rating (HSR) offerings as organizations look for effective ways to validate the substantial investments they’ve made to prioritize the health and well-being of customers, employees and residents alike.
The WELL Health-Safety seal is attracting interest partly because it provides a recognizable trust mark that helps deliver the confidence needed to help people transition to some level of “normal” when the time is right. IWBI launched a high-profile consumer ad campaign to make it easier for businesses to educate their customers on the importance of the commitments they’ve made.
We’re incredibly proud to count iconic spaces like Royal Albert Hall, the Empire State Building, Taipei 101 and Yankee Stadium among participants in the WELL Health-Safety Rating, together with organizations such as Aimbridge Hospitality, T-Mobile, Life Time, Brookfield and JP Morgan Chase. We’re helping build confidence in spaces for learning, too: Upper St. Clair is the first school district to achieve the rating. These participants may be at different stages of their WELL journey but they’re all keen to tell their stakeholders how they’re using the WELL Health-Safety Rating not just to meet the COVID-19 challenge but to build greater resilience for the future.
For sports, entertainment, retail and hospitality sectors, a heightened awareness of safety will inevitably be required to re-establish trust in everyday interactions. The WELL Health-Safety seal makes the invisible visible. We can see how it’s helping build confidence at Yankee Stadium when people go for their COVID-19 vaccinations — and will continue to provide reassurance when they return for the upcoming season.
We’re all missing out. On the precious family moments that we treasure and on the small daily interactions that make our lives more enjoyable, colorful and dynamic. But there is hope.
At IWBI, we come to the table with a deep body of research that informs the actions we can take to help make our spaces safer and healthier. Our customers are also our partners; together we have a unique opportunity to help us all get back to business with confidence.
Rachel Hodgdon is President and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), a public benefit corporation and the world’s leading organization focused on deploying people first places to advance a global culture of health.
