Impact of COVID-19 on HR

There are varying opinions on the nature of Coronavirus or COVID-19, and what should be our approach towards handling it, but it is clear that by the time it ends, it would have affected vast swathes of our population and probably no county would have been spared. With a population of 1.37 billion people, India is likely to witness an adverse impact too. From unprecedented restrictions on people’s movements to an enormous burden on the already strained healthcare system, the slowdown would be widespread. This slowdown across industries triggered by the virus would thus impact the HR function enormously with sectors producing staggering layoffs, wage cuts and a temporary freeze on fresh hiring. Not only this but the HR would be forced to recalibrate itself to deal with employee-centric issues such as compensation and performance appraisals, employee engagement, Leave policy and remote work.

In this highly complex, unprecedented situation, there is no clear, universal action template for organizations to adopt. But the larger question is: how will this massive transformation impact the workplace, you, your team, and your organization?

Here are five crucial employee strategies which your team should evaluate:

1. Talent Acquisition/Recruitment:
   Business like aviation, hospitality, travel, and leisure who are among the worst-hit because of the global outbreak is placing a full freeze on fresh recruitment. Other sectors like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail, logistics where most of the frontline-hiring takes place are delaying their hiring. But I believe that this situation can give employers an opportunity to revise their 2020 hiring roadmaps, refine their employer brand identity, and source, interview and fill key roles within their organizations.
   If employers embrace video conferencing technology to facilitate interviews, they will have an easy, lower-cost interview process. Also, hiring during a downturn will infuse confidence in the current employees and will let them know that you will continue to provide them with the resources they need to succeed. While a strategic hiring roadmap will help employers to be better recruiters than their competitors.
2. Employee Engagement:
   As they say, “ All work and no play make Jack a dull boy”. Although work from home and social distancing are good for one's physical health clearly the mental health is at risk. HRs need to make sure that all of its employees are ready to fight with the fear and anxiety that follows COVID-19. To make sure employees have virtual social interaction, HRs can conduct fun virtual parties with their employees.McKinley and Rice have conducted one such Virtual party for the employees with Fun activities like “Know your Team” and “Corporate Bingo” along with fun conversation about life with work from home and employee appreciation in order to boost the employee’s morale. DONUT fracture on slack helps encourage and connect people remotely for coffee, tea or lunch.
3. Leave Policy:
   In India, there are no fixed government policies that require private employers to provide employees with sick leave benefits. and so, the policy on sick time varies widely across markets. During times like the one we are witnessing at the moment; employees seek advice from their social colleagues about what is “usual” terms of employer leave coverage. Given the ease of digital dialogue on social platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook, the potential for policy confusion and coverage gaps to generate employee concerns about employer generosity exists high. In a competitive environment, defined business culture, employee satisfaction, and employer reputation are key market areas of focus. Any employee’s concerns about forced leave coverage could add significantly to the impact on the financial wellbeing of your company. And for this reason, I believe that employers should closely analyze the leave policies of their key market peers to determine the best coverage choice for this situation.
4. Remote Work:
   COVID-19 has brought remote work to the forefront of HR policy conversations, given the forced closures of offices and community quarantine guidelines. Many organizational design experts believe this phase of fast, forced work from home will indefinitely change the nature of the workplace. Employers think that their companies have a strong business continuity plan and that all of their employees are fully equipped with all the hardware and software needed. But there is a huge difference between working from home, time to time and Working from home, full-time. And so, it comes to us as a surprise during this time of crises that we need extra equipment for employee’s workstations at home or better software or tools for communication. It is also very difficult to manage the working hours of employees during work from home. Software’s like Hubstaff helps the employer monitor the working hours of the employee and giving a clear summarized picture of all the activities that took place. Having frequent meetings between the team members further keeps the teams spirit high and the work animal running.
5. Compensation/Appraisal:
   With the end of the financial year right around the corner, employee appraisal, promotions, and bonuses are also affected. Companies like PwC and MakeMyTrip are taking a wait-and-watch approach before making any decisions regarding appraisals or promotion for better money management. Whereas, companies like Indigo and GoAir are cutting employee’s paychecks by 5% to 20% and terminating contracts of its ex-pat pilots. During a crisis like this, gaining employee’s trust and retaining your best employees should be the number one priority. Cutting down salary will be a better approach than cutting down employees.

While there are many cons of COVID-19, this global pandemic could change the way of hiring for the better with this shift from personal recruitment to virtual recruitment. The widespread use of the work from home during the outbreak could be a game-changer for improving the work culture of your organization and to give you an opportunity to reformulate your human resources policies.