The Role of the Human Capital Function During the COVID Pandemic

Let us start by admitting that we cannot anticipate what will happen to our businesses during and after COVID. Many speculate about the new normal, virtual connectivity, the need to go digital and the inevitable reskilling of the workforce. These are valid subjects and may very well become the focus of future action; however, it is also possible that organizations might simply go back to before the COVID pandemic and, eventually, the old normal. This article will not explore scenarios about the future but will concentrate on how to connect to and maintain the emotional wellbeing of employees. To keep it short and sweet, the focus will be on issues of anxiety and fear from the future, salary cuts, temporary legislations and virtual communication.

Dealing with anxiety or fear

“I acknowledge and share your worries about what lies ahead, and how this pandemic will impact all of us in the short and long term…Our focus and priorities during this time remain the same… YOU, your families, our customers and our communities... We will come back stronger; we will come back much more connected and united and much more meaningful to our customers…”

That was quoted from a six-minutes statement by the Chalhoub Group CEO on April 14, 2020 (Chalhoub Group is a privately held luxury good company in the ME that employs more than 10,000 employees). The announcement eased concerns and shifted the mindset of employees from a “let me sit down and worry” attitude to “what can I do to assist”. Despite of the economic downturn, employees’ concerns shifted toward a collective protective stance. This first statement by the CEO was followed by more video messages that were also broadcast live, and posted over social media.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chalhoub-group_peoplefirst-customeratheart-staysafe-activity-6660456196920737793-pHZW

While the level of uncertainty varies depending on the country and the industry, the primary concern of employees is job security and sustaining a living. Questions like “will I, or when will I, be made redundant?”, “can I manage with the current salary cuts and is it legal?”, “what will my new role be and will I be able to reskill myself…how?” have to be dealt with. Therefore, the role of any human capital department is to manage fear and provide support to those in need. Good practices include facilitation of town hall virtual meetings to discuss the pandemic impact on the organization and broad possible scenarios endorsed by the organization. Employees have the right to know. Other initiatives may include virtual trivia events that connect people and ease the feeling of isolation. Some companies have reverted to expert assistance and offer the services of professional coaches to uplift the mood of employees, assisting them to adapt or deal with their emotional wellbeing. A beautiful blog on emotional wellbeing was written by my colleague Ibrahim. He is currently connecting with organizations and offering collective and individual emotional wellness sessions https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibrahim-al-yafi-4997207.

Dealing with salary cuts and understanding temporary legislations

Who will be protected, companies or employees? In Canada, the government is distributing cash to citizens. The EU is considering a stimulus package to keep large industries afloat while supporting small and medium enterprises. In the UAE, the main support is targeting the banking, tourism, and service industries among others. Many organizations are suffering from a cash flow shortage. Your finance and accounting department, together with the human capital teams, need to present salary cuts scenarios in accordance with local legislations. The human capital professionals’ role should be to ensure “empathic scenarios” that protect employees’ ability to maintain a living. For example, cuts should not be equal across the board and should follow an ascending scheme whereby the juniors and front liners are the least affected. Emaar properties, one of the largest real estate companies in the ME used such an approach. They decided to go public with their salary reduction scheme. They circulated a document indicating the percentage of salary cut from each job band. Obviously, front liners were the least affected. That was a clear message that despite economic challenges, their decisions had their people in the center.

In case you need assistance to simulate salary cutback scenarios, you can reach out to my colleague Walid https://www.linkedin.com/in/walid-fraiha-62748b29/. He has developed several simulation templates which he would be glad to share over a virtual call.

Unfortunately, the situation is not always rosy. Disputes might erupt and temporary legislations might be misinterpreted or abused. Mercer have done a good job documenting and interpreting the impact of temporary legislations on organizations and individuals. If your organization faces such challenges, you should turn to professional legal assistance for clarity and help.

Dealing with virtual connection challenges

To Zoom or not to zoom…, synchronous and asynchronous communication platforms are not the answer but a tool that would facilitate communication. The tool you use depends on three pillars: the message, the audience and the expected outcome. In other words, Slack might be better than WhatsApp when exploring a project with multiple channels; and Muriel could be better than Google Docs when collective contributions are required for a document or a plan. The human capital department should define those pillars and provide and facilitate the use of virtual tools. It should also define explicitly usage rules, and facilitate discussions related to implicit assumptions. For example, the human capital department could define who can post, comment or verify information, when to reply, and propose etiquette rules and tips on facilitating a video call. Many objective reviews on the suitability of such tools, their advantages and limitations from the end-user’s perspective, have been published. Here I will recommend a list of some commonly used platforms:

Video: Zoom, Webex, Skype, and Microsoft Teams

Messaging: Slack, WhatsApp, Yammer, and Microsoft Teams

Collaboration: Google Docs, Smartsheets, Muriel, and Office 365.

Currently, human capital departments are considered successful if they tackle the above-mentioned challenges. Eventually, their role should evolve to become a driver of organizational efficiency and employee readiness. Technical themes like strategy development, scenario planning, organizational restructuring, workforce planning, accountabilities-based performance management, new leadership competencies, and people development will be needed. Meirc Consulting is already working on contextual solutions. We will be writing and reaching out: so, stay tuned.

While the pain caused by the COVID pandemic is a fact, deciding whether to suffer or to act is a choice.