The pandemic brought major changes to the workplace that have been challenging for employees and leaders alike. To help them through the fluctuations, organizations have turned to HR professionals for solutions. As a result, human resources bear more responsibility than before.
The shifts that happened in 2020 have dramatically impacted employees, both personally and professionally. Many people suddenly found themselves working at home, and concerns about their family’s health, as well as their own, rose seemingly overnight. Looking for ways to balance home and work life has become more of a focus than ever for many as the lines blur.
Managers and owners worry, too, in different ways. They wonder how best to take care of employees, and maintain productivity, especially if they have never had remote employees before. How to communicate messages to those working from home is one of many questions on leaders’ minds.
To ease these worries and questions, companies and employees are looking to HR for answers and strategies. That puts the human resource department at the center during an uncertain time.
HR professionals are on the frontlines, supporting employees in various ways, including helping them feel more comfortable working from home and protecting the workplace when it comes time to transition back there. Protecting workers’ health and safety has become a key part of the HR department since the pandemic began.
Also, HR departments must also continue recruiting, hiring, and onboarding in this new environment. Digital tools that are intuitive, customizable, and integrate easily, such as Talcura’s suite, streamline the processes to take some weight off the HR professional’s shoulders.
Furthermore, human resource departments bear responsibility in developing leaders’ skills to position them for success when digital communication is plays a bigger role than ever. HR must create practices that connect managers and owners with employees from a distance and maintain a sense of continuity in the overall organization.
Given that the COVID-19 pandemic is unlike any other, HR professionals find themselves under a lot of pressure. They already had a full plate before 2020, and now there is more to add to it, as explained earlier. Furthermore, there are not known problem-solving strategies given this is a novel time.
To adapt to current conditions, which continue to change, HR teams must accept today’s complexity rather than trying to fit solutions of the past into this period that is unlike any other. It is vital that they collaborate with workers at every level to tap into their knowledgebase.
Only by reaching out to employees can HR departments truly understand the issues and brainstorm what will work moving forward. After all, an employee knows their job better than any other. They are close to the problem, which means they will be a valuable part of finding the solution.
HR departments must get creative when it comes to organizational success. Moving the conversations forward will help develop new principles to follow in the HR industry in future years. While there is a lot of responsibility, there is also a lot of opportunities.
