Effect of covid-19 on Human Resource Management

In this report we are going to discuss the effect of covid-19 on Human Resource Management.And the role of human resource managers in this crucial time of corona-virus.

This report is based on a survey and discussion of MIT Sloan Management Review and CultureX to find out what human resource management systems around the world are doing to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

As noted by human resource management Head Sally Sourbron for ServiceNow Europe, ServiceNow's response falls into three urgent areas: coordination, remote work and reporting.

The cloud computing firm quickly developed a global response team (led by the CIO) and built a collection of communication networks, remote work tools, and day-to-day reporting capabilities for infection, location, and homework information.

These measures address some of the most pressing concerns of employees as they transition to a remote place of work. Daily crisis standups provide workers with frequent, consistent updates as they worry about their future and explain roles and responsibilities as they change in real time.

New reporting capabilities allow the organization to adapt as efficiency and absenteeism unpredictably change to meet critical needs. Safe, remote-friendly resources and flexibility in the guidelines on travel & expenses make life simpler and more competitive for workers when they work from home.

The response from ServiceNow seemed promising and we wanted to see if it was compatible with the entire human resource management system, worldwide. So ServiceNow invited thousands of HR managers last week to engage in a five-minute survey asking them to comment on current affairs, and what went well in their organisations, and less well.

As the pulse data shows, the response of Human Resource organizations has fallen into four important areas: physical health and well-being, followed very closely by remote work, and then quickly followed by work-related issues and continuity of work and, finally, a pressing need for mental health, resilience, family support and uncertainty.

It's remarkable that less than 50 per cent of companies have had a remote work system before this crisis. Banks, regulated sectors and various financial services firms did not require workers to work from home. Today companies such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and others are rushing to build strategies for remote work.

Do remember how many businesses are now focusing on the "work revolution" and workplace security. For example, the Food Industry Association has launched a huge initiative to help businesses realign their employees into new jobs and positions in all facets of food service and distribution.

With the assistance of Verizon, Lincoln Financial and ServiceNow, Accenture is designing a similar system. When plants and restaurants and sites were shut down, companies started talking about shifting employees into new positions.

One of the other top-of-the-mind issues is "operations continuity." Novartis and other pharmaceutical companies were explicitly clear that the "crisis response" team isn't HR's sole job even at a time like this.

ServiceNow and several other businesses are still recruiting, and in reality ServiceNow shared with me today that it was onboarding 45 people via Zoom last week.

Our survey does suggest that this is the exception rather than the rule; in the wake of COVID, only 5 per cent of HR professionals anticipated their organization would increase their workforce.