The CoronaVirus pandemic changed the world and our lives in many ways. It notably changed the labor force in essentially every country on the planet.
One effect of the covid-19 pandemic was that many people chose to leave the workforce. According to the Department of Labor, between February 2020 and February 2021, employment dropped by 8.5 million, with over 4.2 million choosing to leave their jobs.
The move by the latter has been called the ‘Great Resignation’ and has caused many companies to reexamine their Human Resource processes. The HR industry is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic, and it may take years to recover.
The following are several key challenges the HR industry faces due to the Covid pandemic:
Work Flexibility
One of the most critical issues that the HR industry has to address is workplace flexibility. Companies had to offer their employees flexible working schedules during the pandemic, which most employees report to prefer.
Therefore, companies will have to offer their employees more flexible jobs and working schedules to remain competitive in their industries. Businesses will have to address flexibility in terms of working times as well as work environments where people can still interact.
Flexibility is also vital in improving most people’s work-life balance. Flexible work is here to stay, and the HR industry will have to align itself with the needs of the vast majority of employees.
Old Office Culture
Prior to the Covid Pandemic, most corporate offices had a particular culture that primarily involved plenty of competition and politics. However, since most people had to work from home or were fired, the old office culture has become almost obsolete.
The HR industry will have to adapt and create a new culture when people come to the office. Reigniting the culture and atmosphere that existed before the pandemic will be impossible as people’s lives have changed tremendously in the past year.
People have particularly become adept at working with machines which become necessary with remote work. Machine learning and AI will continue to impact work processes significantly, and the HR industry will have to embrace them.
Attracting and Retaining Talent
After the pandemic, considering how many people have left the workforce, whether they were forced or by choice, HR departments will have to reevaluate how to attract and retain talent. Businesses have to take Human Capital Management (HCM) more seriously than ever before because the workplace has completely changed.
“What is HCM?” you may ask. Human capital management is the process by which businesses hire, manage and retain employees for optimal productivity and business value. Every business needs good HCM, which has become even more critical since the pandemic.
What has become clear since the pandemic is that most corporate leaders are out of touch with the workforce. Employers and leaders need to understand and empathize with their employees’ unique challenges, particularly in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
The HR industry has to develop better HCM practices to manage employees, with many employees claiming to be overworked. The industry will have to find ways to attract high-quality employees and offer them enough incentives to keep them in their positions.
Skill Evolution
So many people lost their jobs in the aftermath of the pandemic. However, they did not have the time to learn new skills and had to repurpose their skills in various ways.
Since governments restricted human contact during the pandemic, many valuable skills before the pandemic could no longer retain the same form. Most people particularly had to alter their skills to suit the digital economy that grew dramatically during the pandemic.
Moreover, many businesses now require different skills than they did before the pandemic. Therefore, the HR industry will have to find new ways to handle the various skills available on the market and match them to the relevant positions.
Focus on Wellness
Employee wellbeing was often an afterthought in many workplaces before the Covid pandemic. Wellness and mental health, in particular, became crucial to both employers and employees after the pandemic.
Therefore, a critical challenge that the HR industry will have to face is ensuring employee wellness in the workplace. The sector will mainly have to figure out how they can improve wellbeing while still retaining high productivity levels.
The workplace has changed since the Covid pandemic and shows no signs of reverting to its previous form. It will experience more change as we recover from the aftermath of the global pandemic. The above are some of the critical challenges the HR industry faces, but more are coming, and creative solutions will be necessary.
