The pandemic has changed the world, for good or for worse. It has changed how people work as well. Most of the companies have allowed the work from home option for most of their employees. It has positively brought relief for many of the employees as they can have a work-life balance. In this article know about Challenges for HR during the pandemic
However, this has increased the workload for the HR representatives. They have to coordinate with different people at once and get them on board for a meeting. Sometimes, even ensuring everyone comes online for a meeting itself becomes a difficult task to handle.
And that is just not it. The HR’s are having to manage the recruitment process also. Due to the pandemic, the recruitment game has changed and gone virtual. Then how to secure a smooth flow? Here are some tips that can really be helpful.
Table of Contents
Managing Employee Relations
Imagine having to contact a team with different offs and different shift timings. The meeting should be organized intricately, or else it would become a nightmare! The internal communications need to be regular to understand how the team and its members are progressing.
Being empathetic and transparent is the key to managing internal communications. Not every employee is well equipped to understand the improvements of the process, especially when they are learning online. So cut them some slack and provide enough support to help them update.
Hiring Preferences
With the hiring process going virtual, it is difficult for the HR recruiters to have a decent conversation with the potentials. An interview faces a lot of challenges, from technical to software issues. The issues are countless. But the HR needs to swim through all of those concerns and establish good communication.
No matter the video clarity of the interview, it can never be as equal as interviewing in person. While this is one issue, the other one is massive layoffs. A lot of employees had to be laid off to manage the expenses of the company. But on the brighter side, many experienced professionals are available in the market. It has become easier for HR recruiters to hire one for the role.
But how would you reach out to them? Good question. There are many tools available online that can help with accessing hundreds of contacts in a matter of seconds. One such helpful tool is GetEmail.io. It is an email search platform with a massive database of all the official email addresses around the world.
It also comes with a chrome extension to your Linkedin account. So you can find the email contact of the profile you’re searching for. Now you don’t have to worry about how to find out someone’s email address, thanks to GetEmail.io.
Engagement of the teams
Apart from virtual recruitment drives and managing employee relations, HR needs to ensure that the teams are actively engaged. The employees are still aware of their career growth paths in the company. With the after-effects of the pandemic, most of the teams have shifted to work virtually. Many of the employees are choosing to stay the same even after the pandemic recedes.
It brings extensive modifications to the work culture that companies have adopted for so many years. It also includes coming up with new policies and regulations, new means of communication. The amendments will also have to include the updated versions of employee success measurement and goal settings. The HR team will have to start from scratch i.e, to change the training and development modules.
Employee Retention
One thing HR needs to concentrate more on is – employee attrition. Pandemic has changed the way people perceive work and career. It isn’t just that the companies had laid off their staff. It’s the other way round as well. Many people had quit their jobs to pursue something that they found worthwhile and also pays them better.
These days even the slightest dissatisfaction is making the employee think of other choices. In such a scenario, HR needs to be very assertive and vigilant to not lose their valuable talent. According to a study, hires with better and precise onboarding have a 58% more chance of employee retention for up to three years than the ones that don’t. So, it is vital to have a qualitative and transparent onboarding process.
Answering the difficult questions
The most unfavorable part of an HR’s job is to let go of a team member. It gets even more difficult when HR has to let the employee know about such an event. Instead of being brief and abrupt, it is advised that HR empathizes with the employee first. Empathy goes a long way in the corporate world.
While another part that is hard enough is reworking to get the team back to their offices. Many might find it relieving, and many might prefer to work from home. So, instead of forcing any decisions on the employees, it is ideal to have everyone’s feedback first. Also, do not forget to address any issues and concerns while planning things out. A little flexibility can help retain the interests of the employees to continue working with the company.
