People First: The HR Goal
On May 20th we celebrate the International Human Resources Day, since this is the primary focus of Cima, we felt we like sharing a few words about it.
Covid-19 posed a new challenge for Human Resources departments around the world. The leading roles in this area have never been so important. Even without a worldwide pandemic, their efforts and expertise are the ultimate drivers of productivity and team cohesion. This might seem obvious, but a lot of companies deem HR as a nice to have rather than a critical need. Some others see it as a legal demand more than anything. Now, with the present health crisis, human resources professionals are the ones helping companies and individuals thrive in a (sometimes brand new) virtual workplace and ambiguous job market.
People Management tasks are now critical. They are the key to keeping a healthy work environment, keeping the team morale up and monitoring people’s well-being while we’re all going through so many changes and navigating the unknown. And this is even more important, these days when levels of anxiety and depression have peaked everywhere.
HR can easily spot a burned out employee who is not fully productive or engaged. The most common new reasons behind burn-out are , on top of the usual stress factors: the Covid-19 situation, the impact of social isolation or issues at home (since we spend a lot more time here now). Competent human resources leaders will know how to find the right balance between being fair and understanding to such employees and, at the same time, be aligned with business goals.
As we know, many companies’ first reaction in the face of economic crisis has been to reduce costs by massive layoffs. This is what we have witnessed in the past few weeks among severely affected industries like tourism and entertainment. And, although many industries have their Recruiting “on hold”, many tech companies keep moving forward.
If reducing the payroll can be delayed, Human Resources could take advantage of the crisis and take the time to revisit the company’s structure while the storm passes. Are there tasks that can be automated? Can we repurpose people? Should we train the current staff to acquire new skills?
In short, we believe the source of a company’s competitiveness is its people and, more so, the cumulative growth of each individual is the foundation of a company’s growth potential.