HR: THE OTHER FRONT-HEROS?
EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON THE HR FUNCTION
BY PAULA WILLIAMSON REID & PASCALE MEYRAN
The past months have been taxing – on everyone. Much has been shared about the personnel in hospitals and emergency response teams and the challenges they have faced. They have watched the physical and emotional toll of COVID-19 first hand. These are the people we immediately think of when we consider the “front line workers” staring down the human impact of this ugly disease. Their hours have been extensive. They fear for their own well-being as well as their families’. They speak with people all day long who are afraid and try to give them hope without having answers.
Some of these same fears, challenges and anxieties are how many senior HR leaders could describe their work over the past months. They don’t wear scrubs and aren’t covered head-to-toe in personal protective equipment but what Human Resources leaders have been faced with is managing the dynamics of employees who have been impacted by the substantial and rapid changes to their organization’s structure, culture and financial health.
In some ways, their stories are the tale of two completely different realities. There is the story faced by retail, travel, and hospitality organizations realizing substantial downturn in revenues. In direct contrast is the story of substantial upside business needs in technology, cleaning, and food products. On either end of the spectrum, Human Resources leaders are on the front lines managing through a myriad of highly complex issues.
Rapid Change and its Many Complexities
Interviews with HR leaders around the globe reveal one common denominator – fatigue. Physical and emotional exhaustion.
In the initial days of the pandemic, HR leaders lead the pivot to work from home initiatives. They were central to the decisions of who was “essential” and had to be in the office and what that meant. They lead the cross-functional process of securing appropriate tools to enable remote access to work. Their ability to guide leaders to understand how to motivate, organize and lead their teams in a new way became paramount. In the first few weeks, they were inundated with anxious leaders and employees trying to understand expectations and redefined deliverables. For example, what level of performance is reasonable for employees who, in addition to their full-time jobs, need to also teach fifth grade math or supervise play time?
For many, this was happening across multiple time zones creating workdays that started early and lasted long into the evening hours. In the midst of all this, they had their own personal fears, the same ones they were trying to manage entire work forces through – how do I perform my job, meet the needs of all of these people, and still take care of my own family? What happens if I get sick?
These initial weeks merged into the realization for many, that the businesses they support were about to experience unprecedented financial losses. Shortly after settling many into a work from home approach, they were delivering the difficult news of store closings, furloughs and lay-offs. One HR leader in Retail described the process as heart wrenching. “In the past, when you had layoffs, you knew there were other places they could go to. You could offer resources and networking solutions on who was hiring in our industry. This time, you knew that was not an option. There was nothing to offer.” All of this in numbers beyond what any had ever experienced or imagined.
The opposite of all this was true in businesses that were experiencing accelerated hiring needs due to a rapid change in how customers accessed their products or demands for goods. One HR leader at a major financial institution described needing to hire at a pace never-before experienced. The lock down meant call centers were overloaded. That, combined with reduced interest rates and the introduction of the Payroll Protection Program in the US meant loan processing functions were completely overloaded. Companies supporting food supply or cleaning products were severely challenged just trying to meet demand. The need for more workers came at a time when current employees feared coming to an office or factory while others were hampered by a lack of childcare.
The challenges for Human Resources have been many. Perhaps front and center of all of it is the recognition that the decisions being made had and will continue to have huge impacts on their workforce’s physical, mental and financial health. Perhaps the toughest part of it – is not knowing when any of it will change. The emotions of it are a huge weight on their shoulders. One leader expressing it as “I feel like an impostor: people turn to me to have answers and I don’t have them”.
The speed and complexity of decisions that have been made over the past few months is mindboggling. There is no book, no training, no consultant that can give best practices based on past similar experiences – there is no similar experience. Human Resources, like many of our medical workers approached their roles as primary, and they pushed the need for self-care to the bottom of the list. Most Human Resources leaders we have spoken with are mentally and physically exhausted. The pace has been relentless.
The return to work, and Human Resources is called to pivot again.
If the list of questions HR dealt with around creating a remote force was long, the list for questions around reopening is the length of a football field. It is one thing to pivot and quickly make changes to outrun a silent enemy you just realized was lurking. It is another thing to know the enemy is out there and you are trying to work around it.
With the return to work, Human Resources is once again on the front lines. Trying to find answers to questions they never imagined would be asked. How do you manage the level of anxiety many employees have at the prospect of leaving their homes to return to a changed work environment? How do you best protect your staff’s safety? What will be used to evaluate employee performance moving forward?
There are so many scenarios to consider, some of which won’t even be realized until they happen. All of this being managed by a team of HR professionals who have likely had little time to consider their own well-being, as their job, by its nature is focused on others.
As the next few months unfold and companies move from responding to the crises to preparing to thrive in whatever the new normal looks like, Human Resources will be as important as ever. No doubt the interface between humans and technology will take on entirely new dimensions. The cultural shifts and changes in work force strategies that emerge over the next 6 to 18 months will likely happen again, at an unprecedented pace.
As we all prepare to move to this next phase, may this article serve to pay tribute to the Human Resources professionals around the world. We want to acknowledge the critical role you play; you are the center of any organization’s greatest asset – human capital, and your roles have never been so challenging. You too, have been front line workers. It is our hope you take the time to recognize all you have done and care for yourself -- today and in the future.
About the authors: Paula Williamson-Reid is the President of Fifth Gear Coaching LLC and Reid & Company Executive Search Ltd. She is a Columbia University certified Leadership Coach, seasoned Executive Recruiter and Board Member for both public and private organizations. She has authored research on Second Generation Bias and Its impact on Women Leaders www.fifthgearcoaching.com www.reidnco.com LinkedIn: https://www.Linkedin.com/in/paula-reid-195a162/
Pascale Meyran is the Founder of P Meyran Executive Coaching, former CHRO of Capri Holdings Limited and former SVP Global Human Resources, S.C. Johnson. Throughout her 30+ years of career, she has focused on HR strategy and leadership development. She is a Columbia University certified Leadership Coach and a Board Member. She has authored research on coaching for expatriate Executive Women. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascalemeyran/
