The coronavirus has ensured that the workplace of tomorrow will be a whole lot different when the worst of the pandemic is past. Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) must step-up to help their companies and communities served to not only ride out the storm, but successfully emerge on the other side.
Sam Palazzolo, Principal Officer @ The Javelin Institute

The present workplace looks fairly different from what it had been just twelve months ago. There is less paper, more technology, smarter workstations… but above all, there are no people! And no, this is not because of automation, but it is the effects of the shuttering of commercial office space as a consequence of COVID-19, a.k.a. the coronavirus.

Most — if not all — companies have shut their commercial doors, colleges have shut their gates, and for those companies still deliberating what their plan of action will be — could be? — many employees have been put in a the sole position to effectively work from home. These are all disruptions coming out of this coronavirus emergency, and all of them make for choppy seas which CHROs and other organizational leaders must think strategically about how to best approach through tactful actions.

The pandemic is a human catastrophe, something that we know a thing about at The Javelin Institute (Our Mission is to provide executive education with a portion of our proceeds benefiting leaders who’ve experienced family hardship — hardship in the form of death, disease, divorce, and/or drub utilization. With people and technology at the frontline of the catastrophe, unfortunately the majority is now our potential client base. Looking forward, how we live and work are set to change — maybe irrevocably — and companies will need to keep equilibrium and business continuity, as new ways of working become the norm. By and by, technology will help to strengthen resilience, not reliance on business operations.

Going forward, the most important focus areas will be the following:

Keep Employees Healthy

Together with doing their jobs, employees will need to stock up on necessities, manage children not going to school, and take good care of loved ones, while staying healthy themselves. CHRO leaders must demonstrate compassion and flexibility, providing arrangements for adaptive shifts and work at home. There may be instances when workers are necessary in the workplace, and for example, one organization has split its office into distinct zones, even mandating no crossovers between zones and seeking to isolate a zone which may, unfortunately, produce a COVID-19-positive employee.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a federal health agency in the US has shared a useful principle for steps to be taken during coronavirus. All these are obviously specific to the US regulations and rules, but CHROs may take more than a few hints on what to do. The top recommendations are provided below:

Reluctantly encouraging symptomatic employees to stay home for specified periods — 2 weeks? — reporting-back based on their improved health and negative test results
Mandating documentation from health care providers for affected workers
Modifying sick leave policies for consistency with public health guidelines
Supplying personal protective equipment (PPE) in the form of tissues, disposable wipes, touch-free disposal receptacles, and alcohol-based hand sanitizers with 60-95% alcohol
Informing employees of possible exposure if one employee tests COVID-19 positive, and supplying suitable facilities and information in the aftermath
Educating employees about what they can do to effectively decrease the spread of the coronavirus
Manage business continuity so that while it certainly is not business as usual, business can be conducted as close to business as usual

Post-Pandemic Readiness

“The show must go on” rings particularly true in these conditions. Companies cannot just pack up and depart, even though the exodus last March 2020 was eerily reminiscent of such an event. CHROs and organizational leadership will need to determine the way to best adapt to the new conditions created by the coronavirus.

Communication is priceless , and there must be transparency together with all the C-suite and with employees concerning the current situation and steps being taken. Regular briefings can aid new routines that breed trust and confidence and any delays have to be properly planned for and conveyed — perhaps even understood? CHROs must be the figureheads for employees, serving as the main sources of information as well as the guides who assist the group get better.

Facilitation is every bit as important, particularly when it comes to working in the home. Aside from permitting it, employers could — topic for their own budgets and requirements — provide or reimburse upgraded Internet plans and devices for workers in the home. Remember that cell phone reimbursement expense that got denied in late 2019? Now it’s not optional for reimbursement.

The culture shift remains primary, however, with learning sessions and best practices forcing this change. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is real… though here it is about missing out on the next big project, the next promotion, or the next potential pay hike. Companies have to be sure that work from home does not get in the way of acceptable promotional opportunities, and reassure employees accordingly that they will not be overlooked because of the lack of commercial office presence.

Maintain — Exceed? — Performance

For organizations to come through this catastrophe completely unscathed is simply wishful thinking. The most important thing is to attempt to minimize the negative impacts on company performance to the extent possible. The CHRO must work together with other C-Suite leaders to mitigate risk associated with remote access to sensitive data or software-development, together with allowing work from home through multifactor authentication. Employees must be educated regarding protocols for safe remote function from an IT perspective, and procedures to identify and de-escalate inherent dangers.

Another factor to consider is the chance of an economic recovery to take place during the worst of COVID-19/pre-vaccinated population. Why would this be “bad” for the organization — or economy? The pent-up demand therein could cause customers — customers who are very likely to move to pre-crisis spending levels — to act in pre-pandemic manners that could be detrimental to the health/well-being of employees. The CHROs role will be to help maintain the ideal distance for safety. Lastly, investing in “up-skilling” employees could be a terrific tactic, as training them on new business models and incorporating their suggestions on future-readiness could greatly enhance business processes and employee engagement.

SUMMARY

The entire impact of COVID-19 is open to speculation at this point, with postsecondary scenarios certainly ruling out business as usual. The shifts need changes in how companies manage their people, their most precious assets for dealing with the crisis and coming out with nominal scathes.