Embracing change: How the HR role is evolving, and how to adapt
How companies and organizations have handled this year's challenges plays a huge factor in what the future HR landscape will look like.
The coronavirus pandemic has drastically reshaped the economy and the labor force in ways we’ve never experienced before. Since its rapid spread around the globe, we have experienced enormous shifts in how we work, where we work, and the technologies we use to stay connected. Keeping up with the constant change in the workforce was and continues to be heavily reliant on how human resource professionals help companies adapt in moments of crisis.
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While part of the role of an HR representative is to stay in lock-step with new and emerging trends, no one was prepared to deal with a global crisis. This led to a dwindling economy and massive job losses in just the first month of the pandemic. Read on to learn about the evolution of the HR role, and how HR professionals can adapt to improve our workforce as things continue to change day by day.
Adapting to change in a global crisis
To ensure the health and safety of their employees, companies have switched to a remote work model at a rate and scale they’ve never expected. As face-to-face collaboration is replaced with more Slack conversations, Zoom calls, and countless emails, HR managers have to manage difficult work under very different circumstances.
We’re seeing Fortune 500 companies like Twitter, Google, and Square make the transition to a fully remote workforce. We can expect this to be our reality for the foreseeable future. Companies making this shift want to provide their employees with the opportunity to work in an environment that best suits them. Surprisingly, a recent study found that two-thirds of managers reported that employees who work from home increase their overall productivity and 86% of employees say they’re most productive when they work alone—devoid of distractions like inefficient meetings or loud office spaces.
What does this mean for HR managers? While productivity numbers have remained high during the pandemic, HR leaders must learn how to efficiently transition to a fully remote workforce for the foreseeable future. This transition includes learning how to recruit and onboard new employees remotely, ensuring communication and collaboration is not lost within team members — all while avoiding micromanaging — and offering flexibility to employees that was not offered before.
HR professionals are also under the strain of addressing the mental health and wellness of their entire staff in addition to worrying about the safety of employees still physically going to work, processing piles of paperwork, and providing solace to countless workers who have been laid off, furloughed, or had hours reduced. During these uncertain times, an HR leader also needs to ensure their company is protecting its employer brand by encouraging leaders to provide as much transparency and empathy as possible in times of massive layoffs. For employees still on the job, HR managers are trying to keep their workers productive, motivated, engaged, and connected—all of which are moving parts in this new normal.
Working parents are struggling now more than ever, which means many are relying on their companies to provide them with flexible hours and days off in times of need. Ensuring companies are providing their employees with the support they need is highly valued and goes a long way. Companies that can’t manage a smooth transition to remote work or offer flexibility during the pandemic may pay a price, as many people are now looking at how companies handled the crisis and if they did so effectively.
Your employer brand significantly affects the volume and quality of applicants a company attracts. It impacts employee productivity, job satisfaction, and retention, so maintaining a strong employer brand is critical. If an employer brand is tarnished and people are displeased with how a company handled the crisis, some may go as far as voicing their concerns on social media and other public platforms.
While we’ve seen many companies take a hit from the pandemic, there are several industries that have unexpectedly made a splash, thus increasing recruiting needs, which have also shifted during the pandemic. In this climate, candidates want jobs that offer as much stability as possible and provide a lateral move at minimum or even a step up—with a company that boasts a positive employer brand and reputation.
Proactive recruiters and talent acquisition leaders who want a chance at the best candidates available in this new market are reaching beyond job boards. As social media use surges, some of the most impactful and immediate ways to proactively reach top talent in this climate is to leverage your—and your employees—social networks.
Where the role of HR is going in the future
Seeing how companies and organizations have handled the numerous events that took place during 2020 plays a huge factor in where the HR landscape is now and where it’s headed over the next five years. COVID-19 and the widespread requirements for more DEI initiatives within organizations are catalysts for a completely evolved HR role that is here to stay. Everything from helping avoid employee burnout across your new remote workforce, to keeping up with increased automation, to leveraging social recruiting and concentrating on inclusion can help keep morale high and attract the high-quality, resilient employees your organization seeks.
As technology advances and best practices change, so does the face of HR. If you want to work efficiently while recruiting strong candidates and retaining good employees, you need to keep up with the latest innovations and adapt to an ever-evolving landscape.
Some effective ways to do this are to be proactive in responding to evolving events and try to stay ahead of potential crises and similar scenarios by creating response plans. Now that we’ve all been through a global crisis, having a proper plan in place can help reduce the stress of feeling unprepared and can mitigate any potential backlash the company may get from employees. At the end of the day, it’s up to HR leaders to influence and facilitate the future of work.
Debora Roland is vice president of HR at CareerArc.
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