Bella Williams

5 Evolved HR practices at MNC's during Pandemic- The New Normal
2020 has literally turned our life upside down. The changes in our lifestyles have been drastic to say the least. Apart from our social life, one of the major things which has been affected by the covid crisis is our work and the entire working culture. Covid has forced most of us to work remotely and this culture is increasingly becoming the new normal. On the face of it, the change might not look so huge, I mean people are still working right. They are just working from their homes instead of their workplace, what’s the big deal? But a closer introspection will tell us how huge the impact actually is.
This shift affects everything, from worker’s motivation level to their productivity to their very ability to work owing to infrastructural constraints. In the wake of such a huge transition, HR too had to revamp itself to adjust itself to the new normal and make itself relevant to contemporary times. Here are 5 evolved HR practices in context of the new normal. 
Transparency 
Maintaining transparency has become a major challenge in the new “work from home” culture. Absence of face to face interaction seems to have taken a hit at accountability as well. Since you can no more stop anyone at office and ask them what is going on, it is tough to keep everyone on the same page about a particular project.

However, what must be remembered is the fact that this lack of transparency is not intentional. Rather it is mainly because of the absence of a proper interactive infrastructure which enables seamless communication. Hence the HR has had to shift its approach from being assertive and demanding about transparency to creating a more enabling infrastructure and environment that would automatically encourage accountability and transparency. Ensuring daily sync-ups of managers and workers, involving employees from all levels of hierarchies in important client meetings, including employees in high-level decision makings. These are important steps in the right direction to ensure transparency and accountability.
 
Training and infrastructure
Work from home seems like a great idea till you have an outdated laptop and an internet connection which gets disrupted every time there is the slightest trace of cloud in the sky. Infrastructural inadequacy is one of the biggest roadblocks when it comes to executing work from home and in such a scenario the HR has to understand the material requirements of the employees to be able to work from home. Companies around the world are realizing the importance of equipping their workforce with adequate infrastructure and the HR department has played a major role in that. Employees are being provided with laptops and internet connectivity and everything else that is required by them to be able to carry out their responsibilities smoothly.

Not only infrastructure, the HR department has also realized that working from home on a daily basis is something that the employees are not habituated with. Hence, they need to be onboarded so that they can adapt themselves to the new norm. Hence sufficient resources in terms of time and money are being invested to organise training sessions, not only for newbies but also for seasoned employees to get them acquainted with the norms of the new normal. Keeping in touch with contemporary times, a lot of resources and platforms are emerging digitally to help you with your academics as well as work-related queries. So if you are looking for any marketing assignment help, be sure to check this out. 

Reimagining communication
Reimagining communication to accommodate the realities of the new normal has to be one of the biggest challenges for the HR. You can no longer call spontaneous meetings, neither can managers call their employees to see them in their personal cabin. Every bit of communication that takes place in the workplace, is virtual. However, arranging for seamless virtual communication is easier said than done. Internet connectivity issues, unavailability of certain employees during certain hours, all these challenges and more definitely come in the way of smooth communication and in turn affects productivity in the long run. HR of many organizations have risen to the occasion to tackle these challenges. Planning ahead for the entire week, maintaining a schedule for all important meetings of the week, these steps are coming in handy and a more or less planned week also means that the organization will lean more towards planning and less towards firefighting.

Redefining opportunities 
While most of us are cursing the coronavirus for its detrimental impact, many HR leaders around the world have decided to cut down on the cribbing and look at through the lens of opportunity. Coronavirus can open up a field of opportunity to deconstruct our assumptions, adopt a more innovative approach towards the products and solutions that their organizations offer.
The hiring strategy also seems to have changed wherein more focus is now given to skills and abilities rather than on degree. Companies are looking for driven individuals who have problem-solving skills rather than someone with endless degrees but little knowledge about applying them in real life.

The above chart records the responses of various HR leaders and how they perceived coronavirus as an opportunity to think out of the box.
Taking a new approach to understanding the needs of employees
Working remotely sounds like a pretty convenient option till loneliness and anxiety start creeping up on you. Sure, you don’t have to be stuck in long hours in traffic to get to your workplace, but that also means you’re not interacting with your colleagues. You are not gossiping with your office best friend about your workload, or how your boss has been mean to you. Being devoid of human interaction is taking a heavy toll on the mental health of employees. Also, the absence of concrete working hours has resulted in employees working way beyond their official hours. 
The wellbeing of the company ultimately depends on the wellbeing of its employees. The HR executives all around the globe, are taking it on themselves to make these tough times a little better for their employees. Restricting work hours, incentivizing employees, taking a genuine interest in the mental health of workers are some of the steps that are being taken up which will have a lasting positive impact on the mental health of the employees and the well being of the company in the long run. 

Max Webber classified authority into three categories, one of which was, charismatic leadership. The leader here derives his power from his own charisma and personality. He was deemed as someone whose vision inspired others, whose accomplishment motivated others. In the earlier days, this type of leadership was often attributed to gurus and saints who had the uncanny ability to enchant their followers. But if we put in the current context, a charismatic leader would be one who can inspire their employees to be a better version of themselves. A charismatic HR leader would lead by example, s/he would want to motivate his/her employees by all means possible and at the same time be considerate and empathetic to their needs. This truly is the mark of a charismatic leader in today’s times.