Six reasons why HR is taking centre-stage in the post-COVID-19 workplace. Is your startup geared up?

Human Resources (HR) have never before been so fundamental in strategic business plans than today, as the corporate sphere is shifting towards a new world with people taking centre-stage. If Indian startups aspire to become a part of the race, they have to invest in this central core that drives business.

As companies formulate their own way of finding a way through the pandemic, the post-COVID world has already crowned HR.

Why?

The pandemic has bestowed the responsibility of keeping businesses afloat on HR’s shoulders. While a typical process to reach the other side of the tunnel consists of three stages, respond, revive, reimagine, HR today is understandably focusing on the ‘respond’ phase.

Though the events in a post-COVID world remain uncertain, HR’s rapid response to the current crisis has been changing the game in terms of productivity, employee engagement, resilience and performance management. Their role since the beginning of COVID-19 remained as that of a ‘business frontline worker’, as they took the necessary steps to ensure employee safety through Work From Home (WFH), wellbeing through enhanced health benefits, and increased engagement through virtual events and activities.

It is a known fact that the world cannot go back to what it was prior to December, 2019. With MNCs accepting this big change and pushing themselves towards a remote working atmosphere, it would only be wise for Indian startups to imbibe the philosophy of flexibility and let HR take the driver’s seat.

More of HR is becoming the propelling force for increased productivity of companies, evident through the influence many of them are exerting on the business society during these difficult times.

Gone are the times when HR was entitled to sit behind desks to fill mundane employee forms, manually mark attendances, break their heads over basic employee engagement activities, etc. The HR of today is the essential entity that helps your company attract the right talent from the pool, keeps them engaged to stay connected with the company for aiding in revenue generation and retaining the top performing employees to help the company thrive.

Meanwhile, technology is emerging as the strong shoulder for HR in this growing landscape. With the cumbersome tasks left with the right HRMS, HR can pay heed to the ways of lifting startups to the peak of success. They ensure you invest in the right tools that help in easier adaptation of automation with simplification of processes. This isn’t provided with software, which is clumsy and complex with clunky interfaces.

It is vital to incorporate HR in your workforce. And here’s how they will ensure your company remains competitive.

1) Bringing top talent to your plate

The pandemic has placed the ball in the employees’ hands. The business world today presents several opportunities for top-tier talent to choose from. At such times, your HR will work to ensure the right talent comes to your company. Their recruitment will play a prime role in predicting your organization’s survival chances. While as a startup you may think of HR as an afterthought, now is the time to regard it as your primary thought as its importance is screaming through every window. Don’t give a deaf ear to your company’s cries.

2) Re-engaging employees to drive productivity

With so much happening outside, it is only human to get detached to the workplace and dwell on other issues. This is where your HR steps in to reconnect employees with the company to ensure the productivity graph doesn’t witness a downward trend.

3) Responding to the crisis

As a priority, HR deals with the current crisis and maintains continuity to prevent things from falling apart. Remember that your employees, partners, customers and other business world leaders are watching. Hence, your HR’s response towards the situation will orchestrate the building of the bridge between the crisis and the new normal.

4) Helping organizations recover

The changing paradigms will ultimately call for a recovery with extraordinary focus and coordination. HR will play the role of paddling your boat ashore to prepare your company to thrive — the next destination. Though this is expected to remain for a protracted period, it is inevitable.

5) Reinforcing commitments

Fresh from the recovery phase, HR will charge the company to re-commit. They will reinforce commitment through a renewed focus on well-being — physical, physiological, mental, and financial. Companies won’t be able to survive in the business realm if they choose to skip acting on their commitments, fulfilled eventually by HR.

6) Creating future leaders

The right mentality is formed when it is nurtured by the right people. HR takes centre-stage in educating managers about flexible work that will soon become the ‘new normal’. Their efforts are directed to bring a change in workers’ thought process to create leaders of the future who will value company culture, productivity mediums, employee well-being and several other vital aspects of the business world.

HR is much more than your form-filling personnel; they are your people-person and your best bet to remain competitive in a post-COVID workplace.

Guest contributor Chethan Kumar S, Head of Customer Success, Keka HR, an employee experience platform with HR and payroll. Any opinions expressed in this article are strictly that of the author.