It’s doubtful that anyone remains unaffected by the lockdowns that persist a year after the start of the public health emergency. Every sector and group would argue that the effects have been particularly difficult on its own members, but most concede that Human Resource Management, as a whole, has been hard hit. This interesting article describes five lasting changes that may not be all bad. In fact, the author believes that COVID was the “Big Accelerator” to drive the sorely needed changes.
First among them is how we communicate. Every aspect of communication in the workplace has changed and tools are rapidly evolving to facilitate communication and collaboration and better mirror the way people worked in the face-to-face environment. While video-conferencing has kept us (too?) connected, there’s a need for platforms that offer integrated tools like chat, social networking, file storage and distance education, as well as those that support the onboarding process.
Next is how we hire. We’ve blogged about other talent acquisition and employee retention aspects, but hiring has been turned on its head in the lockdown era. From interviewing to training, more is being done remotely which changes the ‘vibe’ and interaction. Add to that equipping workers with the needed skills to move victoriously into this decade, and overhauling the system begins to seem like an understatement. In fact, companies are relying more on external labor, and HR needs to bridge the gap in certain skills while developing a strategy to prepare the internal workforce for new demands.
The third one is how we learn. Online learning has become the norm and now includes onboarding, which used to be called orientation, but now goes by this much cooler term. The next step in the digitized learning environment, however, is delivering customized experiences focused on a person’s career interests, capabilities and performance; this means your learning platform has to deliver way beyond one-size-fits-all education. Given the heightened expectation of growth and development by most 21st Century workers, artificial intelligence may be just the thing to tweak learning opportunities into delivering personalized outcomes.
Let’s move onto #4: how we tend to employee needs. While the vast majority of workers believe their employers provide them with info to keep them healthy and safe, and are happy to have a job, mental health struggles are skyrocketing. Rates of anxiety and depression among US adults have tripled during the pandemic and this issue is now front-and-center for most employers this year. Companies are investing more time, attention and resources into mental health.
The last issue is where we work. Remote work has exploded in the past year accompanied by other employee flexibilities. Before COVID, one in five employees worked remotely; now 71% work from home most or all the time. This, however, is not a viable long-term strategy for some businesses, who are now reining in their latitude and reconsidering how to do so in a manner that balances worker and company business concerns.