How Has The COVID-19 Crisis Affected People Management In Companies?

An event like the coronavirus crisis has not only had a psychological impact on the citizens of most countries in the world and a socioeconomic impact at a global level.

Halfway between micro and macro realities, important transformations have also occurred in the world of organizations. And, of course, in the field of Human Resources it has been necessary to adapt to them. In the end, reality is always ahead of theory and the old work dynamics that many companies use “by default”, without considering whether they are the best or not.

Therefore, in this article we will review the different ways in which the COVID-19 crisis has affected the HR field and to the management of people in general.

What changes in the field of HR has the pandemic generated?

When it was initially believed that the pandemic would only last for days or a few weeks, it was assumed that the need for changes in the management of people in companies, if they occurred, would consist of small modifications of a superficial and quantitative nature: providing more software tools to work from home, repairing defective intranet functions that had not been attended to for a long time, etc.

However, when the true scope of the COVID-19 crisis was seen, the need to promote structural changes began to emerge not only in the HR departments, but also in the role of this element of the company as a whole. of the organization.

That is to say: It was necessary to address the crisis by making changes at a strategic level and focusing on the human component of companies Transformations in which Human Resources professionals have a key role in knowing how to adapt to the new ecosystem created by the pandemic both in the economy in general and in the labor market in particular. Let’s see what are the main focuses of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the world of HR.

1. Need to focus on new technologies

Although many companies continue to base their work philosophy on “not touching what already works” and have hardly been interested in staying up to date with new technological developments, this way of operating has become unviable for many organizations.

Ultimately, the pandemic has had a great social and economic impact in a matter of just a few weeks, and In order to quickly adapt to these situations that break into everyday life, it is essential to take advantage of the potential of the digital world In this way, in relatively few steps it is possible to start functioning in a very different way, since it is not necessary to make major material modifications to the work environments.

2. Need to reconfigure HR department relationships

It must be taken into account that in many cases Not everything is resolved by replacing the face-to-face job interview with one or two video call sessions For example, competency-based tests and psychotechnical tests, if any, must be carried out digitally.

This makes it necessary in certain companies to develop digital tools adapted to the organization, and the HR department must be closely involved in their design.

For this reason, in many cases it is necessary to modify the communication and supervision flows between departments, so that Human Resources professionals are in constant contact with the digital development part and not only report to it, but also participate in the decision making.

3. Adaptation to a new job market

The pandemic has had a significant psychological impact on many working people, and specifically, it has been seen a clear tendency to value the possibility of working from home much more so that this is a criterion with greater importance than a somewhat higher salary.

For this reason, in many cases changes must be made even at the level of company philosophy, something that must be reflected in the area of ​​Public Relations (oriented towards workers and potential new employees) and the communication strategies promoted by HR. Today, unlike what happened before the coronavirus crisis, in many sectors The “default” work option is no longer going to the office and in cases where it is necessary, it is important to know how to explain the reason for this so as not to generate rejection.

4. Need to open up to new generations

As we have seen, the digital transformation processes that the HR sector had been announcing in recent years have accelerated and that in many cases were being postponed due to the short-termism of many companies. Now, these changes are of no use if there are no Human Resources professionals capable of operating with these new technological solutions, and furthermore, if they do not know how to exploit their potential, they will be at a disadvantage compared to the competition in a matter of months.

So, The HR sector is more in need than ever of “new blood” : professionals who integrate the potential of new technologies in the way they understand their work and propose selection, training and loyalty strategies.

Do you want to train in Human Resources?

If you are interested in professionalizing or specializing in the field of Human Resources and staying up to date with the latest technological and strategic developments in this sector, you may be interested the University Master’s Degree in Talent Selection and Management promoted by the University of Malaga (UMA)

This training program is fundamentally oriented towards practice and has a teaching team and collaborators in which HR professionals from several of the most important companies operating in Spain participate, and is divided into three blocks: University Expert in Selection of Talent, University Expert in Training, Personal and Organizational Development, and Internships and Master’s Thesis. Upon completion, students obtain their own degree for 75 ECTS credits.