The Art Of Human Resource Management In the "New Normal" Era

1. New roles of Human resource management in the new normal

The Human resource department is the intermediary between employees and businesses. In the context of the new normal, their importance is elevated with many challenges ahead, since both employees and businesses have difficulties in adapting to this period.

1.1 Becoming a bridge between businesses and employees

The Human Resource Department, which has direct contact with employees, needs to be responsive and grasp the issues that employees are dealing with to promptly report those to the higher-ups.

At the same time, HR also helps employees understand the difficulties and changes that businesses have to make.

Human Resources will be the department that gives ideas and recommendations to help leaders build working processes and operational plans that are beneficial to the development of the business as well as the staff.

1.2 Implementing the enterprise’s human resource management strategy

The Human Resources Department will be the one to implement the company’s new human resource management strategy in the post-Covid-19 period.

These jobs include training personnel, giving out information about company changes to the staff, and helping employees become more engaged with the business.

At the same time, HR staff also need to get hold of the instructions and assignments of their superiors on time. Human Resources needs to be agile in handling situations and conflicts that occur and find solutions to protect the benefits of both the employees and the business.

1.3 Contributing to the organization’s fast recovery in the “new normal” era

When implementing the leader’s strategy, the Human Resources department will be the one to recognize the limitations and problems in real situations. Then, this department will contribute ideas to increase the efficiency of the implementation process.

Human Resources interact and work daily with employees, so they need to come up with solutions to promote work performance and employee cohesion between departments. These factors play an important role in helping businesses operate efficiently and bounce back quickly.

Besides, the Human Resources department can also suggest flexible working methods to help employees work more safely, comfortably, and efficiently. In short, HR will directly record changes in the way employees work and the way the business operates, and then provide suggestions to help optimize the organization’s performance.

2. HR must be sensitive and be the major driver of business transformation.

The art of HR in the new normal period is to become more agile to help businesses discover the resources needed for their recovery and transformation. This is especially important for businesses that are in a digitalization process.

In particular, the HR department needs to have remote recruitment and training plans in some cases. At the same time, for the process of training new employees, important skills for working remotely, collaborating with digital elements, etc. need to be emphasized.

The sensitivity of HR also has to be reflected in providing employees with good experiences when working for the business, thereby becoming more enthusiastic and sticking with the organization longer. In order to  achieve that, the Human Resources department must come up with solutions to address the concerns of employees in the volatile “new normal” period.

Strengthening connections and setting up internal codes of conduct, and internal channels for communication and exchange are ways to promote employee-to-employee and department-to-department engagement. Networking also makes operations smoother and more efficient.

A quality workforce provides the core strength for businesses to transform and cope with challenges during this process. Therefore, the art of human resource management that emphasizes the agility and sensitivity of HR is the key to helping businesses transform effectively.

3. HR’s difficulties in the New Normal

The Human Resources Department will certainly endure various difficulties when entering the “new normal”. They need to deal with resource allocation challenges as businesses change the way they operate, and also with issues related to employee morale.

Some businesses cut staff during the epidemic period, which leads to the big problem of filling the staff shortage when they enter the “new normal”. The HR department will face the burden of recruiting and training new staff, in addition to coordinating with remote employees.

Employees’ decisions and ways of working can also be attributed to the morale affected by the pandemic period. As the department that works directly with employees, HR needs to ensure reassurance and create a stronger bond between employees and the business.

Additionally, many businesses seeking to recover and transform will need to change the way they operate. This led to the adoption of new ways of working and the development of new plans. HR is responsible for making sure that new employees are well-trained and qualified to meet this purpose.

The art of human resource management is different for each organization. However, in the new normal period, most of the HR departments of companies will need to be more sensitive and agile in motivating employees as well as finding the most optimal resources for the development and transformation of the enterprise.