Google recently extended the work from home (WFH) regime till 2021, and companies like Microsoft and Amazon are extending it until Oct 2020. One of India’s most prominent IT firms – TCS has already announced that 75% of its workforce will permanently work from home by 2025. As more and more organizations embrace work-from-home/ remote working, there is an indefinite trend set-up by organizations as their ‘new normal.’ Gartner’s CFO survey 2020 revealed that nearly three in four CFOs Plan to shift at least 5% of previously on-site employees to permanently remote positions post-COVID 19. Alexander Bant, Practice Vice President, Research for Gartner Finance Practice, said, “CFOs, already under pressure to tightly manage costs, clearly sense an opportunity to realize the cost benefits of a remote workforce. Nearly a quarter of respondents said that they would move at least 20% of their on-site employees to permanent remote positions”.

It is no doubt that the organizations, irrespective of the mode of work – office or home or both, will now witness a rapid paradigm shift called the HR 2.0. Organizations that recognize this shift and realign their HR policies & processes and people practices to the new normal will survive and thrive HR 2.0.

It invariably becomes the HR’s responsibility to normalize and standardize the new working model while ensuring employee satisfaction. HR leaders have already begun their process of scouting for a long-term answer in future-proofing their HR landscape from any future crisis or event like the COVID-19. Words like “Engage” and “Manage” now stand for a realm that has a whole new meaning in the given business context.

Given below are the different aspects that can help shape your HR organization and help find normalcy in the “new normal” and navigate through the pandemic to reach the destination – HR 2.0.

CONTINUITY – A typical scope of HR consists of multiple facets. Given the nature of the pandemic, there may be a few areas of HR that may get affected, but there are areas like HR service desk and payroll that are critical and should be undisrupted. Identifying and detailing a business continuity plan with a list of critical HR processes that can help continue the business, as usual, can help the HR function better manage and overcome a future crisis. Furthermore, having all your employee data stored in one place that one can be accessed at any time and from anywhere can significantly reduce HR’s burden in providing continuous support to its workforce.

You can also check out our article on “3 key lessons for HR Functions to learn from COVIC-19” to give you more insights.

MANAGE – Effectively managing and monitoring employees’ productivity has always been one of the biggest areas of concern for any HR leader. Tracking your employees’ time and attendance (T&A) or their leave of absence while they are working from home becomes a daunting task. The trouble with managing employees working remotely is that there is either no data or too much data and communication leading to confusion. Improper tracking of productivity also negatively impacts employees. Deploying a flexible, easy-to-use, and accurate time and attendance and absence management system is now no longer a luxury but a necessity! Most HR leaders agree that having a robust T&A and Leave & Absence system in place helps save significant time and effort.

You can also check out the top 4 must-haves in a tech-based time solution that can help you find the right solution for your organization.

ENGAGE – No matter the situation one is put through; an HR function’s biggest responsibility has always been to find ways to engage with its workforce. It is already a challenging task to create a vibrant atmosphere in physical offices, imagine doing this while the employees are scattered across different remote locations. Engaging and keeping your employees positive in a situation like COVID19 can be a burdensome task. The answer to this lies in leveraging social collaborative and survey tools. These tools, if selected wisely, can significantly help the HR function and provide employees with a user-friendly platform to connect, engage, and collaborate in a far better manner with their peers across from within the organizations spread across different locations. Organizing virtual employee connect and gamifying experiences for employees can be another great example of engaging your employees.

COMPLIANT – Countries and states across the world have taken necessary actions to ensure safety and help businesses withstand the pandemic. For example, countries like the USA have made amends to FMLA that permit employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leaves and job-protected leaves. Whereas, in the United Kingdom, employees are entitled to receive £94.25 a week as Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provided they suffer from any form of illness that defeats their ability to work. While amends in the labor laws act as a measure to safeguard employers and employees, it is an additional pressure on the employers to keep themselves updated and to act upon these changes immediately. Without an efficient process and system in place, this can turn out to be a tedious task and can add to the existing chaos of handling a crisis. Thus, having a defined mechanism and process backed-by a reliable compliance platform can not only ease the pain of tracking changes but throw timely alerts and notifications to keep you abreast.

You can also read “HR Compliance: Coining a compliant future with technology” on some of the common challenges faced by organizations in managing global HR compliance.

In a nutshell, the key aspect of handling any crisis and moving your organization closer to the destination – HR 2.0, lies in selecting, deploying, and using the right global HR solution, particularly a unified HR solution. Imagine managing, engaging with your employee workforce, and staying compliant via a single tap! It wouldn’t matter whether they are working from the office or working from a remote location.

Does the concept of “A global unified HR solution” sound unbelievable? Do not believe it until you see it for yourself. CLICK HERE to schedule an exclusive demo of NeeyamoWorks’ suite of HR products that support your global workforce no matter its size, diversity, geographic presence, or complexity.