After approximately six months of dealing with COVID-19, experts are still unable to come up with reliable estimates as to the level of impact on the global economy. For businesses, however, the goal is clear: survival. This survival, nonetheless, hinges on the effectiveness and innovation of HR managers. As expected, this has put HR in a situation where they have to tinker with inconceivable challenges. Here are some of the biggest HR challenges faced during this pandemic.
HR challenges:Employee mental health and wellbeing
HR managers must have a high emotional intelligence quotient to manage “HR issues.” Before the coronavirus, one of the biggest challenges for HR is ensuring employees are mentally healthy as this affects productivity. The UN reports that the unhealthy mental wellbeing of employees leads to a loss of USD1 trillion yearly. Now, HR managers have a task on their hands that goes beyond maintaining employee productivity alone. It is no secret that the pandemic has affected people’s lives in all areas. Aside from the global economy and businesses, people’s mental health is another one of the pandemic’s casualties. A survey carried out by Azim Premji University reports that two out of every three employees have lost their jobs due to the lockdown measures, leading to an increase in stress and anxiety levels. Also, the uncertainty that comes with this situation makes it difficult for employees to keep a healthy mental state. The responsibility of ensuring employees’ mental wellbeing lies with HR managers. However, with most employees working remotely, this has become an impossible undertaking.
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Ensuring the efficiency of telecommuting
Even before the pandemic, many companies have begun to adopt telecommuting policies within their operational structures. So when lockdown policies went into full effect, these companies had little problems switching transitioning into a remote working mode of operation. While telecommuting is an innovation that solves many of the HR challenges, most companies in India do not promote it. A survey by CIO carried out a few weeks before the country went into a total lockdown found out that only about 19% of companies allowed their employees to work remotely. However, two weeks after the lockdown went into full force, a massive 96% of companies started to initiate telecommuting policies. This sudden transition is one of the challenges of HRM. The shift to remote working hasn’t been seamless because many businesses had no remote working programs. HR managers have to develop strategies that ensure employees can work effectively from their remote locations while also providing support services at the same time. And all of these had to happen remotely and instantly.
Effective communication
Ensuring effective communication has always been one of the challenges of human resource management. They are always looking out for innovative solutions that aid the flow of information within the company. Achieving this was a lot easier when every employee was cooked-up within the same physical location. However, while this is still one of the current issues in human resource management, the pandemic enforced remote-working set-up has inflamed the problem. The lack of a preexisting telecommuting structure makes it more daunting for HR managers.
Another closely related challenge within the human resource problems and solutions spectrum is the issue of employee engagement. Since remote working has become the order of the day, HR managers have to ensure that employees remain productive. With many external factors threatening business existence, employees must remain productive. But this is a nightmarish situation for HR managers because many businesses are just adopting telecommuting programs, plunging employees into a new experience without training or adequate time to adjust to the shift in work culture. With remote working, it is difficult to follow a routine and even except a systematic workflow.
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References:
- Covid19: HR’s main challenges revealed by Nurhuda Syed||April 1, 2020
- COVID 19 and its impact on Mental Health of Employees by India Employer Forum||June 5, 2020
- Coronavirus lockdown leads to enterprise-wide working from home India by Poojitha Jayadevan||March 30, 2020
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