Covid-19 crisis and its impact on HR’s role

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Covid-19 crisis and its impact on HR’s role

Aarushi Ahuja

@aarushiahuja

May 20, 2020

Future of work

4382

As we all know, change is inevitable. It will keep taking place by virtue of certain triggers, whether internal or external or whether we are prepared for it or not!

The biggest change or trigger for change that the entire world is experiencing right now is the Covid-19 crisis. It has certainly affected the way we live and work. There is literally a 180 degrees turn.

No organization has been left untouched by the impact of Covid-19. Not only the organization, the entire sectors have been badly hit. The businesses are facing the wrath of the pandemic and HR cannot stay unaffected as an organization is an ecosystem and everything is interconnected and interdependent.

Now that the fact that HR’s role will undergo a change has been established, it is imperative to understand the what and how of this change.

Remote work culture is here to stay

Now the organizations are realizing the fact that they can function through this model as well. This kind of culture will be followed in many organizations post covid-19 crisis as well. And there’s no harm in doing so, as gig economy is already on a rise.

The new ways of doing work will pose new challenges for the HR department.

Certain questions that need to be addressed are :

1) How to monitor and enforce attendance?

2) How will the job descriptions change to accommodate the part-time or full-time remote work?

3) How to keep a check on the productivity of employees?

4) How the whole performance management will be impacted?

5) What about those jobs which cannot be done in a work-from-home setting?

Apart from these, HR now needs to be more focused on the well-being of the employees. It will become an important aspect of HR functions. Checking on the employees if they are under stress or facing any other issues which is hampering their productivity will definitely be a part of the priority list even after things return to a new normal.

Maintaining the Culture of the organization

It is the culture of an organization which attracts us to it and choosing one organization over the other. Leadership is the most important aspect of any business that drives its culture.

Culture is what binds the entire organizations together and gives its employees a sense of purpose in their work.

But maintaining the organization’s culture in the time of crisis is a big challenge. With the dispersed workforce, this becomes even more challenging.

Leaders along with the HR is required to keep in touch with the employees to boost their morale. Regular communication, engagement and commitment towards the culture is something which needs to be done to deal effectively with the crisis situation.

Paying attention to the organization’s culture and instilling the same in the employees will help the organization in the long run.

Acquiring and retaining talent

Laying off huge number of employees due to onset of pandemic and low profits is a pain area for many organizations.

Once the situation is somewhat normal, hiring will be resumed but it would be mostly contract hiring and temporary workers, since the organizations will be continuing with remote working. HR needs to figure out a way to attract more and more such candidates who are willing to work temporarily.

Another aspect which is important is way the employees are being treated during the crisis. This can impact the image of the organization in the society. For instance, Uber laid-off huge number of employees over a short zoom call, which was very harsh on their part. Now this will create uncertainty in the minds of existing employees as well as the prospective candidates.

What HR can do in such a situation is to maintain a pool of talent, so that as and when the situation is likely they can immediately start getting the new employees onboard and push the performance of the organization.

Engaging a remote workforce

Workforce engagement of workforce is one of the crucial roles of HR. various studies prove that a highly engaged workforce is necessary for the survival and growth of the organization. Without that, the organization will incur huge costs and will eventually fall.

In the situation of remote working, it becomes even more important for the HR to take care of the well-being of the employees. HR can devise new policies to take of the health, both mental and physical of the employees.

Certain benefits that can be considered are daily pay, subsidized loans and free access to financial education webinars to reduce the financial stress of the employees.

Also, rewarding the employees for their consistent performance even while working remotely can go a long way to keep them motivated and engaged with the entire team and leaders.

Conclusion

According to WHO Chief, Covid-19 crisis will not end anytime soon. All we can do is change the way we live and the way organizations function. Not only HR, all the functions in an organization are undergoing a change and it is imperative to adapt to new ways of working. In this situation we can only keep improvising our approach and implementing the right steps to ensure the survival of the organization in the long run, because we aren’t getting rid of this virus anytime soon!

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Aarushi Ahuja

An avid HR aspirant who is committed to continuous learning and exploring new things

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Covid-19 crisis and its impact on HR’s role

Aarushi Ahuja