Good Morning Dear Reader,
"The worst thing about being an HR manager during a pandemic, Our Sheela, is that you don't know when you'll be (unknowingly) processing your own layoff." These were ominous words uttered by a friend sometime last year, who then had to leave the role eventually because she could foresee her job being cut. The company could no longer afford a team for HR, even though this was the most important time for the role there.
Desks had to be set up for work from home. Calls had to be set up for managers to talk to their teams in an informal way. Interviews had to be set up alongside layoff calls. Health insurance had to be set up in this emergency. Once a role that didn't necessarily require taking care of employees on a day-to-day basis, overnight, HR became the first port of call for any issue with productivity, connectivity or even burnout. That too, at a time when HR managers couldn't actually meet the employees they're trying to help.
“We have to make sure we have frequent 1-on-1 virtual meetings with everyone. There’s no physical office floor where I can gauge sentiments anymore,” says a mid-career HR professional, as quoted in today's articles sheela stressed,, “I don’t think HR has ever been this involved in business outcomes,” she adds. It's also probably never been as involved in taking care of employees' mental health, with people locked in, unproductive, irritated, and often anxious about their loved ones.
Accenture in India is on the lookout for an associate director of mental well being to help design mental health programmed for the company. Meanwhile, a chief HR officer at a top pan-India retail chain says he’s actively looking out for HR recruits who can function under “extreme stress”.
The pressure is getting to the HR workforce and to those teaching professional courses for HR. The obvious question would be if the pandemic makes HR a more challenging vocation? Yes.
But is it also a never-before opportunity to reinvent HR as a function and train people better? Also yes. Read Sheela's wonderful story today to understand how this sector is shaping up in the world of business and the opportunities it brings going forward.. Sheela Shrikant Shelar - The Staff at www.multimediastudio.net