The role of the CHRO seems to be one of merely formalizing policies and making decisions at the bird’s-eye level. This is an overly simplistic view of the role. The chief of HR, in truth, pores over an abundance of data and deliberates over executive decisions on a daily basis.
An elaborate organization resilience framework in place covers more than twelve areas that the CHRO has to make room for in order to keep pace with unexpected vagaries in business and market cycles. Some of these are Risk Management, Incidence Response, Crisis Management and Communications, and Business Continuity. Not all of these are directly related to HR. But they form the backbone of management principles and support frameworks that help businesses attune to market forces. HR is the function that threads them together to keep the organization functional in times such as the present.
You might also be interested to read: ‘CHROs Already Have a Seat at the Table in All Progressive Organizations’ – Priya Gopalakrishnan, CHRO, Arvind Fashions Limited
Setting of workforce agility
During the pandemic and while negotiating the various stages of business recovery that follow, the role of the CHRO is one of high impact and high stress, not including personal stressors. Here is a person who is tasked with the present and future wellbeing of all the human resources of the organization, who has to navigate heretofore unprecedented times. An ongoing healthcare emergency lasting for the major part of a year is balanced with the economic slowdown and emotional upheaval on part of all the people involved. With uncertainty and confinement taking their toll on mental balance, the role of the CHRO combines short-term firefighting as well as the quest to gain long-term fortitude. This way, they can think and act in an exemplary fashion.
The role of the CHRO is no longer about bringing in ‘optional’ or ‘good-to-have’ measures to make employees feel better about their jobs. They now have the all-important role of making employees feel that they, one and all, are in the crisis together and have someone to rely on. The human touch in making this happen is no longer a luxury but an essential for which businesses of all sizes feel the need.
Statistical evidence shows that adaptability in the workplace is not a given, especially in the traditional office set-up. Employees transitioning suddenly to the remote-work model might find themselves with a considerable gap in technical skills, communication barriers, and struggle to adapt to the virtual interface. The future of work is dominated by SaaS packages, web-based tools, and agile work consoles that can be used beyond traditional office limitations.
Challenges to business agility needs a top-down approach
The role of the CHRO is to make sure that employees of all ages and levels of technical competency feel able to handle the demands of an agile workplace and fill knowledge gaps through MOOCs, microlearning modules, and refresher courses. Providing learning and development opportunities is irrevocably built into HR planning and staffing functions.
Other challenges that may not immediately be obvious to managers and HR leaders who use the hybrid working model to deal with the contagion-borne epidemic is that domestic cares, child-care, remote schooling, and boundary issues between personal and professional hours raise their heads. All of these and more unexpected challenges such as mental health swings can interfere with human resources’ as they go about their workday outside the office.
A strategic vision in the role of the CHRO is one that rings in a resilient work culture despite the worries associated with a distributed workforce. Not meeting with a team regularly can give rise to insecurity about the job, performance (such as imposter syndrome), or worse measures of disillusionment. HR managers, line managers, and higher-ups can come together to offer renewed levels of motivation, belief in community, and engagement within the workforce as they ride out the lean times and rediscover purposeful work lives.
References:
- How CHROs Have Met the Moment | Harvard Business Review | Arianna Huffington | June 2020
- Coronavirus: How Indian companies can help employees working from home | Scroll.in | Anjan Pathak | May 2020
- Embedding resilience – A quick guide to the business implications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak | KPMG India | March 2020
- Organizational Resilience Framework | build-resilience.org
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