COVID-19: HRD's Top Insights from April

The coronavirus pandemic has turned the lives of innumerable HR and business professionals upside-down. We have made it our duty on HRD Connect to provide the most valuable insights and thought leadership on the current crisis, from world-leading thinkers in every aspect of HR and the future of work, to help our community to find a way through the challenges we face now, and to create a new world of work when the dust settles.

In case you missed our April features on the impact of COVID-19 and how HR can help businesses to battle through, here is the top 5 insights of the month on fighting the business impact of COVID-19:

1. Matthew Syed: Maintain strategic vision while disarming the bomb

“As in any crisis, perception has narrowed.  Business leaders are eyeball to eyeball with rapidly changing tactical demands: how do we pay staff, how do we access government bailouts, and – while we are at it – how on earth am I going to home-school my kids? It is not just getting through the next week, but the next few hours. A crisis sucks you in, dominating bandwidth.”

What has the Hudson River landing got to do with Coronavirus? In this article, Matthew Syed suggests some parallels and approaches for businesses leaders to consider as they explore ways to weather the current storm.

Read the full article.

2. The remote working ‘teething process’

“It is likely that a dip in efficiency and productivity would be felt overall. Despite a large body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of remote working, there is plenty that does the opposite, with one study showing that 41% of mobile workers felt stress “always of most of the time”, compared to 25% who worked at the office. Another showed that workers sharing an office were 20% more like to stay in touch digitally.”

Regardless of how you believe the working world will change post-pandemic, employee expectations around remote working will never be the same again. How will businesses respond? In this article, Sam Alberti explores this and four more ways COVID-19 could transform HR’s role in the world of work.

Read the full article.

3. Dave Ulrich: How to make working from home work

“From this pandemic, new realities shape work: social distancing, online work, self- isolation, lockdowns, shutdowns, quarantine, shelter-in-place, essential businesses, etc.  These concepts reinvent where and how work is done by requiring remote working (called working at home, working virtually, telecommuting, etc.). A few years ago, the SOHO (single office, home office) was emerging as a novel place to work.  Now, it is a dominant reality for nearly every organization.”

How can business and HR leaders manage challenges and find opportunities in the new realities of working at home? Dave Ulrich and Julio Zelaya, The RBL Group, give their top tips for turning challenges into new opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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4. How to lead during lockdown

“The Coronavirus pandemic has demanded a new way of existing that we must all adjust and adapt to. Most of us will do this gradually, but today’s leaders do not have the luxury of time to make these necessary changes slowly. They have an immediate responsibility for keeping their teams as engaged and as productive as possible, to try to offer some protection from a critically uncertain future.”

In a crisis, employees turn to their leaders for the support they need. In this article, Patricia Hinds reveals three essential attributes that leaders must develop to support their workforces in a time of unprecedented disruption

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5. Maintaining culture in remote teams

“Culture defines behaviours, norms, rituals and functions. Strong cultures are created by leaders who create a vision of a larger purpose and mission that the organization fulfills. This purpose creates value for the organization and all the people who work there.”

COVID-19 has displaced workforces across the globe. How can HR maintain company culture in remote teams? In this article, Sam Alberti and Mari Ryan, author of The Thriving Hive: How People-Centric Workplaces Ignite Engagement and Fuel Results, and workplace strategist, examine the role of culture in the coronavirus business landscape.

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