8 Ways Covid-19 Can Impact the Future of HR Management

Work-from-home shift shocked many companies post-Covid environment. The increase in productivity in this new world of working compared to the work environment before the pandemic situation came as a big surprise to them when they found how well their employees performed remotely while juggling the child care and the distractions of home.

Despite this fact, some cracks of the work-from-home style have started to emerge. Projects take longer, training is tougher, and hiring and integrating new employees become much more complicated. Even employers have been observing that their employees are less connected to the company and also seeing that their younger employees are not working at the same rate as they would do in offices, sitting next to their colleagues and absorbing how they do their jobs.

Though the pandemic period rapidly reshaped how companies operate keeping employee safety in mind, an increasing number of business leaders now begins to say that remote work is not their preferred long-term solution once the Covid crisis starts subsiding.

Now that the pandemic has thrown our world of workforce and workplace management into an unchartered territory, HR leaders have a bigger role to reimagine workforce and employee planning, management, performance, and experience strategies. Given that fact, businesses will also require adapting to the changes to keep up with the future of HR.

Let’s discuss 8 HR trends that can impact the future of HR management.

Remote Work Model is Here to Stay

Remote working model is nothing new, but companies are looking towards making it an integral part of how they operate and work, thereby setting for big changes. However, when it comes to moving to a remote work model for a long-term purpose, HR leaders should rethink how their organizations will operate and how teams will engage and collaborate on a day to day basis. The earlier the transition to cloud-based working, the better.

Focus on Employee Wellbeing

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a period of anxiety and stress. HR leaders will now need to put more focus on the mental health and overall well being of the employees. They have to introduce a new employee wellbeing plan to ensure holistic benefits for employees, which should include mental health and financial security. These wellbeing plans may differ in offerings, but the core idea is to provide employees with benefits that will help improve employee well-being beyond standard health coverage.

Increase in Remote Working

As per Upwork, 41.8% of the workforce in the US only continues to work remotely through 2021 and estimated 22% will be working remotely by 2025. The perception of remote work shows it’s beneficial both for employers and employees, given the fact of increase in productivity and satisfaction level on both sides. Now that HR leaders have to reimagine HR policies allowing for organizational shift to more remote work operations. They have to find out the ways that employees will need to collaborate digitally and that will also allow for better employee experience.

Employer Role in Boosting Social Safety Net

Covid is contagious, often deadly. So, vulnerability is a concern that employers also understand. In view of that, employers have a role in ensuring their employees’ financial, physical and mental wellbeing. In order to do it, employers may allow for extended sick leave, adjusted hours of operations, child care provisions, financial assistance. HR managers have to create employee policy accordingly.

Frame New Age HR Policy

Considering the business continuity plan to deal with Covid conditions impacting business operations, HR managers need to have system, procedure, and policy in place and organizations have to review HR policies on workplace flexibility, remote working, etc. and clarify policies around pay and benefits in case the office or the factor is shut down or affected.

Digital Teamwork & Collaboration

To get through the world of increased remote work, HR leaders should prioritize digital teamwork and collaboration skills development among their employees. They must allow for the context of remote work shifts performance management, especially how goals are set and how employees are evaluated. Employers need to encourage employees and show their appreciation when employees learn and develop new skills.

Equip Workforce

HR managers need to provide the right information on Covid, safety tips, nutrition information, and so on in this post pandemic environment. This is crucial and jobs for HR professionals. The HR can create interesting posts about escalating events and topics around this issue on the activity feed.

Looking Forward

These initiatives have become the new roles of an HR professional in this post-Covid-19 environment, where employees have had to adjust how they work, all the HR should shift towards a more human-focused approach.

In all, the future of HR management is going to be reinforcing employees’ trust for the organization and improving their impressions based on how the HR professionals react or respond in the face of crisis and uncertainty.

Promise Training & Consultancy provides HR management training that will educate HR professionals about the future of HR management and equip them with the knowledge how they will embrace technology, stay abreast of compliance issues, and create HR policy to navigate the situation.