In a pandemic, human resource management tactics must be shaped comprehensively and based on an updated business strategy to overcome the crisis. Due to the conditions of increasing anxiety in society, the employer often becomes a key reference point for the employees in getting timely and quality information about the situation in the country and the world. It imposes increased responsibility on the HR function in the company for forming a communication strategy. Moreover, to maintain the sustainability of the business, the HR function must provide employees with the necessary technical capabilities and knowledge to properly manage teams in the prevailing circumstances and virtual work of teams remotely. The pandemic causes unique challenges in the hiring process, and overcoming them depends on being able to adapt to current trends and strategies.
The shifts caused by COVID-19 have indicated that some lag in technology is not a significant problem – as opposed to the issue of absent communication between employees and business units. Despite the abundance of digital communication tools and collaboration analytics, it may seem paradoxical. Nevertheless, for many organizations, the transition to remote working one day at a time has become a severe challenge that not everyone has been able to cope with.
Numerous organizations encountered themselves unprepared for the rapid change in the operational model of personnel management and adaptation to unplanned realities. At the end of 2020, it became clear that remote work is not a temporary phenomenon, but a new reality and the strategy of simply waiting for it to end is inappropriate (Ahmed et al., 2020). Employers are increasingly moving workers to permanent, blended, or temporary remote work, which is an effective solution. Hence, other trends follow the conversion to electronic document management of personnel and other processes, because of which there is a significant burden on administration departments. There is a need to renegotiate contracts and additional agreements to draw up new local norms to establish provisions for remote work in the company, which is a challenging process.
Moreover, there is a shift in the manager’s role towards coaching and facilitation technologies. It is vital for a modern manager to monitor the development of his employees and build individual trajectories of training and growth. There is an increasing demand not for charismatics but for calm, humble managers who think about people and the team (Ahmed et al., 2020). Competencies now mean more than experience, which is one of the prominent trends while hiring. Previously, when searching for top managers, HRs looked inside the industry, and more attention was given to skills and the ability to solve specific problems and tasks. The previous year, with its sudden shift to remote work, showed that an engaged and self-sufficient team is more significant than the most sophisticated controls (Shahi & Neloy, 2020). Companies that have realized this fact are already on their way to decentralizing managerial decision-making and delegating responsibility.
COVID-19 has been the source of new threats, and the most prominent risk organizations will face the danger of losing talented employees. At the beginning of the pandemic year, managers were least concerned about this issue. It moved up 11 spots as it flowed to become the biggest threat to long-term growth. More than one-fifth (21%) of executives surveyed worldwide cited the loss of talent as their top organizational threat over the next three years, ahead of supply chain disruption risks (18%) and climate/environmental change risks (12%) (Shahi & Neloy, 2020). The work environment has changed significantly, and enabling employees to work remotely is imperative.
Thus, the pandemic sweeping the world has affected all aspects of life, transforming everyday people’s lifestyles and thereby providing new opportunities and risks for the HR department. Today, it is no longer enough to create a company website and mobile applications, maintain social networks, and keep up with technological innovations. Business success lies in completely. transforming the organizational structure in line with new trends, engaging valuable employees, and meeting their needs for market advantage.
References
Ahmed, T., Khan, M. S., Thitivesa, D., Siraphatthada, Y., & Phumdara, T. (2020). Impact of employees engagement and knowledge sharing on organizational performance: Study of HR challenges in COVID-19 pandemic. Human Systems Management, 39(4), 589-601.
Shahi, K., & Neloy, H. (2020). Global transition of HR practices in covid-19 pandemic situation: a systematic review through 5P’s model of HRM. Management and Human Resource Research Journal, 9(6), 50-57.