5 Challenges of HR Professionals in COVID-19 Pandemic
Most of the individuals around the world are in lockdown due to COVID-19. Many professionals are wondering what a world post-COVID-19 will look like and what will be the job skills needed in it to succeed, what will be the challenges of HR professionals as well. Most of us not know how the world could well transform after we get the novel coronavirus under control. But it is unlikely that things would get back to normal soon. Within this context, many HR professionals will face several issues such as recruitment and screening in COVID-19 pandemic. To cater to this issue, we will provide a list of 5 Challenges of HR professionals in COVID-19 pandemic.
Managing remote work
The fact can’t be denied that the transition towards remote work culture is not as seamless. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, less than 50% of all the organizations had a remote work program. Banks, regulated industries and several financial services organizations never encouraged remote working. Now almost all of them rushed to create remote work strategies. This has certainly led to several undiscovered problems. HR managers have been trying to create seamless routes and strategies for overcoming the challenges that it does bring. Strategies could never be more designed periodically or in advance but in real-time. So the challenges of HR professionals are a real deal. The emphasis on employee productivity and engagement has now shifted towards several responses and diagnosis. This will help to provide employees with the right tools and also collect real-time updates from them from time to time to untangle all the intricacies and offer support.
Mental health and wellbeing
A sudden shift in work culture has taken a toll on overall employee health and wellbeing and it is one of the biggest challenges of HR professionals. Stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues are always there and it is no new story. Organizations are always initiating wellness programs and also providing their employees with security, flexibility and health benefits to help them and overcome their health issues. However, the sudden COVID-19 outbreak has also brought employees mental problems in the front seat. When you have your workers that are working in an office work environment, one can at least understand their sensitivity and pulse this can helps for tackling the issues. However, employees going remote through different communication routes are significantly compromised. This does leave the managers to be clueless and at times less conscious.
Lack of agility
One of the main reasons why HR teams have been struggling is mainly as a result of the lack of agility. Most of the HR teams have not been designed for agility. This has also influenced the HR professionals to a great extent. As a result of this crisis, it is essential to respond fast and move quickly. However, there are several approvals that are required to be before taking action. This can also slow down the overall process of data collection and also taking immediate measures whenever crisis demands. For becoming agile in their approach and re-prioritizing organizational goals and having the right communication and alignment across middle management and executives is essential now.
Employee Communication
From a literal perspective, communication is one of the massive challenges of HR professionals to cope up with, that is on the priority list of individuals across the world. Communication is an important aspect that should be taken into consideration whether or not a company is working remotely. Without having the most effective communication channels, it gets very tough for managing a company. As a result, the COVID-19 crisis had HR professionals on toes. This helps them to look for having the right remote working tools that would be suitable for their culture. Video conference tools such as Zoom or Slack can be used to fulfill the requirements of the workforce, it certainly is not enough to get everyone on the same page.
Uncertainty
It is a fact that uncertainty could result in paralyzing anyone. The feeling of not knowing what the future holds or what are the measures needed to take for sustaining organizational operations could be one of the massive challenges of HR professionals. We are massively affected by uncertainty. Employees are also affected mentally. As a result, the future is uncertain for them.
