Brent Colescott

Leading Innovation in Learning

HR Heroes

HR Heroes

If you haven’t checked out John Krasinski’s “SGN” (Some Good News) on YouTube you’re missing out on one of the best ways to feel good these days.   Some of my favorite “Good News” highlighted on SGN is the outpouring of support for our Health Care Heroes around the globe.  The Doctors and Nurses on the frontline of the Pandemic are dealing with untold stress and fatigue as they care for patients.  I offer my personal thanks and heartfelt gratitude for what they are doing to help so many around the world.  In time we will hopefully see the numbers decline as the virus abates; but I see new Heroes stepping in as the health crisis subsides, our Human Resource “HR Heroes.”   

Our Human Resource Professionals around the globe are confronting a very different challenge in the Pandemic. Unlike the medical professionals, the effects of COVID-19 will last much longer than the immediate health emergency.  Human Resource Professionals were called into action toward the end of February much like many of the Doctors and Nurses.  While not on the frontline of a medical emergency, they are very much on the front line of this Pandemic as well.   Not too long-ago they were tasked with finding the “needles in haystacks” of talent for their organizations.  Now they’re faced with the challenge of reducing headcount by the thousands to ensure their organizations can survive. 

Organizational layoffs, reductions-in-force or furloughs are terrible things to endure for everyone involved.  Sadly, I can speak to this from firsthand experience in my past.  I’ve known enough Human Resource Professionals in my career to know that “survivors’ guilt” occurs in the office for those who remain, while uncertainty and loss affect those no longer employed.  Either way, the emotional toll inflicted in this process is significant.  Change can only happen when the situation turns from the negative to the positive.

This is where I see two different tracks for our Medical and HR Heroes.  Ultimately the COVID crisis will be confronted with a vaccine or prescribed medical solution, healing the body.  However, there will be emotional scars which take much longer, if ever to heal.  In my article on “The Looming Emotional Crisis” I covered in detail the five areas employees will need support:

  • Return of Human Contact – Anxiety
  • Restoring Life After a Job Loss
  • Grieving of Lost Loved Ones
  • Effects of Social Distancing on Children
  • Adjusting to the “New Normal”

On a given day these challenges may occur with any employee in the past.  However, this event has impacted ALL employees.  The only difference between employees will be the severity of how each of the above items impacted their life.  But here’s the rub, Human Resource Professionals have been affected as well.  This is where I see the new heroes we support as the “HR Heroes.”  Human Resources is the HUB of all activity moving forward. 

There are four “buckets” I see as main priorities for Organizations in the “Return to Work” that will push Human Resources in ways they could never imagine.  While these areas are not new to HR, they will however come at a scale and pace no one can fathom.

Workforce Planning

Sourcing, Rehiring and returning of staff will look different than before.  If it was difficult to find a “needle in a haystack” before, imagine bringing back all your needles at once.  HR will be front and center when it comes to the return to work of furloughed employees, new employees and the return to the office of remote employees.  Each audience will carry its own unique challenges in terms of need for information, education, re-education and orientation on the changes of a “Socially Distanced” work environment.  A large portion of this effort will be centered on “Onboarding” as the process for return.  Some experts believe the success of an Onboarding Program can be measured by the call volume to HR and IT after the event.  The better the onboarding, the fewer the calls.

Skills

There will be changes in the way we work that will impact roles requiring reskilling and upskilling.  As organizations shifted to remote work to manage though the change, so too were the ways we work.  Processes that may have relied upon paper, hierarchy or proximity have all changed to accommodate a virtual organization.  This may impact an individual’s role or result in training to use software acquired to enable a virtual process.  It’s a pretty safe assumption that many processes will be under the microscope after the immediate threat is over.  Organizations should be evaluating the way work gets done and how it was impacted, positively or negatively in the Pandemic. 

Being Human

I have a hunch that organizations may revert to calling HR, “Human Resources” as a result of the Pandemic.  Great care will be given to employees’ wellbeing, focusing on their “Human” needs.  We’re way beyond just a stand-up wellness program.  Interactions between employees will have changed post-COVID due to the virtual nature of work.  We have seen the “Authentic” side of people on their webcams.  Many employees and leaders have had a view into areas not previously seen; each other’s homes, families, pets and natural hair color!  This has changed the nature of those connections.   I was asked recently if organizations might hire an on-staff psychologist or medical expert in mental health.  It’s an absolute possibility.  The work-life balance has been completely disrupted.  From all I have seen, the “life” component will get a big boost in priority moving forward.

Business Continuity

The Lessons Learned from Workforce Planning and the response to the Pandemic will lay out a blueprint for moving forward.  As organizations recover from the past few months, they will begin to look at what worked and what didn’t work.  Aligning Workforce Planning with an HR technology infrastructure will be extremely important.   Organizations must pursue a high-tech/high-touch strategy.  By automating the minutiae, integrating or implementing Human Capital solutions, they can ensure they have the necessary capacity and data to respond quickly.

We are embarking on a period where Human Resources is more essential now than ever before.  But beyond that, there must be an appreciation of how difficult the role of the Human Resource Professional has become.  None of the workload for Human Resources has been removed, in fact it has at a minimum doubled.  Additional elements resulting from the Pandemic only complicate their duties.  What I can see, and I hope people will realize is that our Human Resource Professionals will be the next wave of Heroes that will keep our people and organizations running.  They may not need PPE equipment or suffer from the facial bruises Doctors and Nurses show on the outside but make no mistake, our HR Heroes will endure similar stresses in the coming days, weeks and months.  So, while you’re supporting the Doctors and Nurses today, don’t forget our HR Heroes down the road – they’ll need your support too.