The Pandemic Accelerates The Human Resources Revolution

 

The Pandemic Accelerates

The Human Resources Revolution

The pandemic has brought about many changes in the realm of corporate work. Old maxims no longer apply to the current context. Labor relations and the way of working are modified. The transformations expected for the coming years are now reality: teleworking, telemedicine, virtual meetings to make decisions, online job interviews, distance training, digital documentation of legal value, new ways to measure productivity, artificial intelligence to filter job candidates vacancies, algorithms to streamline the movement of employees, increased staffing of freelancers, etc.

 

We are experiencing something unprecedented in an unexpected scenario: in just three months, successful companies today go bankrupt, others have oversized workforces. The economy of freelancers and temporary jobs is on the rise (according to Gartner, 32% of companies already work this way), while before it was something avoided. Objective work is much more valued. In an environment that no longer encourages a “face-to-face” culture, it is possible to continue with the business without the need to “see” all the collaborators. On-the-job training is becoming increasingly complex.

 

The world has changed. It is essential that HR also changes and adapts quickly to a new context.

The crisis generated by the pandemic forced a change in the strategy of all businesses, regardless of the area or geography. A new way of working had to be created. A lot of people started doing it from home and… it works! This opens up an opportunity to consider another quality of life: it will no longer be necessary to travel two hours to get to or from the workplace. They even began to think about promoting proximity jobs.

 

At the same time, telecommuting allows people to achieve their goals at the time they consider most comfortable. There are people who are night owls who may be more productive, precisely, in hours that are not -conventionally- "office".

 

A new HR strategy with engagement in the foreground

 

In the midst of this "not seeing each other", not crosses into the same physical space, more than ever we must create engagement. This engagement is much deeper in these moments, because "we are together also in bad times". When this happens, companies will be judged according to how they acted in a pandemic, how they accompanied their people, both in terms of work and emotional support.

And engagement is measurable in terms of productivity. It has been proven that when people feel integrated and committed to what they do, the performance is more than double (x2.3 more) with 57% more effective collaborators and 87% of the payroll less likely to leave the job. Organization.

 

Currently, companies have to propose their strategies not only for the success of their business but also paying close attention to their relationship with the environment and the society where they operate, contributing to the “de-paperization” and the reduction of the carbon footprint.

 

And in this general context, due to the urgencies of the pandemic, technology bursts in to change the mindset of organizations abruptly. You have to stop, understand what is happening and start looking at the business in a different way, with a different mentality, in a more comprehensive, more collaborative way.

 

In this new scenario, with a different vision of the business and the interrelation of the teams, the HR area must rethink its strategy from different aspects, knowing that technology is its best ally to streamline processes, save time and resources:

 

·         Talent attraction: use technology to improve the employer brand and retain candidates. Use video interviews to save time and costs. Use notions of collaboration offered by social and work networks to find candidates; chat bots to establish and follow contacts of interest. Using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to match between applicants (internal or external) and specific searches, which facilitates the task of the recruiter (reduces errors that there were when doing it manually).

 

·         On boarding: 100% digitize the registration of collaborators. Even with induction videos in which the essentials about the company and their job are explained, as well as the basic safety rules.

 

·         People management: complex 100% digital workforces is a growing trend. For example, currently, the company can operate with self-management solutions for certain orders, certificates, data updates, without the collaborator having to travel.

 

·         Greater security for field work: although now more is thought about work by objectives, there are certain positions that require the physical presence of the collaborator in a timely manner. There are algorithms that help program tours, even in real time. This happens, for example, with delivery apps, which look for the closest person to do the job. It improves results and means more safety for face-to-face workers.

 

·         Training and Innovation: reach more people with the lowest cost. Training is ongoing. It is proven that people learn 70% from experience, 20% from observation, and 10% from formal training. There is no longer talk of "create" but, rather, of "curating" content. We are in the era of collaborative training. Currently, the same collaborators are attentive to issues that improve their management and suggest videos, explanations that they see on the Web. This encourage their contribution and makes them protagonist of their own training and that of their team.

 

·         Communication and collaboration: they are the basis of a healthy and efficient organization. These concepts must be at the center of the culture. There are “talk down” and “among” platforms, that is, communication channels between bosses and their team and the team with each other. Being forced to stay at home was an injection for the use of platforms and applications to meet in virtual form, hold meetings, give mass videoconferences. This is a one way road.

 

·         Monitoring the "mood" of the company: it is key that HR can take the pulse of the "mood" of the organization permanently. This can be done online. Surveys are carried out that provide sensitive information with which dashboards and heat maps (depending on the mood) are prepared in real time. This allows to know and understand what is happening; And in the event of something not working well, adjustments can be made quickly.

 

·         Culture of recognition: it is very important to recognize a job well done; favors engagement and a good work environment. There are applications that allow you to see the opinions of third parties, as well as constructive criticisms (which are private). And this can be applied to Performance Management, in order to evaluate people not only according to the opinion of their manager, but also their colleagues and even leaders and people from other sectors.

 

·         Continuous feedback: to understand what is happening in the organization and improve engagement. Promote 360 ​​conversations and permanently monitor what is happening to make any adjustments on time, with agility.

 

·         Wellness and flexible benefits: we are in a global culture of “employee wellness”. The company must ensure the health and well-being of its employees; determine how. There are already devices (watches, necklaces, bracelets and even clothing) that measure the heartbeat, if someone has a tachycardia or suddenly becomes fatigued, their temperature, etc. This is closely related to IoT (Internet of Things). 

 

Of course, the limit is respect for the privacy of the other, but the technology already exists. And as for flexible benefits, you have to know the collaborator's family environment, their tastes, what they do in their free time, if they have hobbies to be able to adjust those benefits to each one; for example, if you deserve an award, would you prefer something individual or that you can enjoy with your partner or children?

 

·         Information understanding: we are in the era of Big Data. We have access to a lot of information, but this is no longer a differential. The differential is its interpretation to make correct decisions. A company has infinite data. The ideal is to have everything in a single platform and with analytics to reach conclusions that serve the business. Analytics can give an overview of the here and now, as well as what happened, but the interesting thing is that they also analyze trends and you can infer what will happen in the future. This allows that, before any risk, the effects can be neutralized.

 

On the other hand, the degree of influence of certain people within the company can be measured. AI facilitates analysis and contributes to making better decisions to determine what courses to take, what to improve, what skills to add to a collaborator.

 

A new era for HR has begun. We are going through a historic change. We must be prepared and have the tools that will lead us to business success in a new world.