Presently, we are living in an era of uncertainty. The coronavirus pandemic has jolted the entire world into a state of shock. The global economy has been pushed into recession. Human Health and wellbeing is threatened and certainty of life has become unpredictable.

In India the situation, however is still better than most nations. Our prime minister has taken some very proactive and suitable measures to ensure that this dreaded killer disease does not spread beyond control. However, the spread of the pandemic has far reaching implications, both for the people as well as the economy of the country.

In this mercurial environment, the HR department needs to future proof the organization. However, there are 4 major issues which pose a challenge. The 4 issues include Health and wellbeing of employees, Job security, Cost Reduction and Sustainability of Operations

Health and wellbeing of employees

The organization needs to make available an effective and sanitized work environment so that the employees are safe and secure. Social distancing has become the norm of the day. Wearing of masks/gloves will be mandatory. Every vehicle coming into the plant/office/workplace will have to be sanitized.

 Job security

Due to the need for social distancing, the number of workers will be reduced. This would lead to ‘Restructuring’. Big organizations that are labour intensive will be forced to end their contracts on the lines of “No Job/Work Available”. Recently the private cab/taxi giant ‘Uber’, laid off close to 3700 of its employees, who were mostly cab drivers. These instances of job insecurity may lead to a panic situation.

Cost Reduction 

Due to the economic distress created by the global pandemic there is constant pressure on the management to reduce cost. Also the govt. directive, to pay full salaries to employees adds to the burden. The future demand of the products/services of organizations is also unpredictable. All these hard facts are reasons for which cost reduction has become a necessary evil in all organizations.

Sustainability of Operations

Right now the workforce/employees of every organization globally, are desperate to go back to work. There are myriad reasons for this; livelihood/finances/family etc. These desperate times will lead to desperate measures because now the existence of mankind is at stake. A small effort to restart is enough to boost the morale of the employees. Once operations commence, the synergy will carry on the process in its own momentum, and in a matter of sometime the people will rise again.

There are now instances of countries where the lockdown is being relaxed to stabilize the economy and also to provide livelihood to people for their existence and sustenance. Even in India, we have gone from Lockdown 4.0 to Unlock 1. As we move forward, we need to accept/adapt this virus as part of our existence and find ways in which we can protect ourselves and make this planet a better place to live in for our generations to come.

In all these situations, the HR department needs to adapt and evolve significantly with Covid19 by working against time and circumstances.

(The writer is an Assistant Professor at the Dept of Human Resource Management, XISS, Ranchi)