Balancing Act
For HR professionals, among other challenges, one that may be a nerve-wracking exercise during and beyond the Covid environment in business organizations will be to maintain good equilibrium at the industrial or employee relations front. Industrial relations, employee relations, or IR, by whatever name it is called, are always organization-centric. It revolves around the culture, policies, and approach it builds, adopts, and nurtures.
Because Covid has created huge uncertainty and fear among employees and employers, both are stress-driven. Job losses, pay cuts, stoppage of increments, and restructuring of manpower are the causes of strain in relationships. Improving productivity with employee health safety and rebuilding trust with security among employees will be the new challenge. Employee relations are not going to be the same beyond the Covid era as they were. These may be more complex. The adverse impact on business caused by Covid will certainly take a long time to reverse. The way business was done pre-Covid will also change. Organizations will tend towards investing in more automation to improve productivity. This move will create more insecurity among employees because the first casualty of automation has always been the reduction in workforce numbers.
Changed work behaviors, social distancing at the workplace, fewer employees deployed at one time, and WFH norms will be the possible issues that may trigger dissatisfaction and unrest among the workforce in the near future. In many parts of the country, incidents of work stoppages, strikes, protests by workers due to the deferment of annual increments have started pouring in. The indication is not good. At the same time, employment terms are going to be reframed to meet the future uncertainties as created by the pandemic this time by the employers, which may add fuel to emerging dissatisfaction.
In such a double-edged situation, what HR professionals need to do while handling employee relations front is to be compassionate, reasonable, empathetic, and transparent. Any unilateral decision impacting the workforce may backfire. Employers need to be involved with consistent fair communication at all levels. Immediate supervisors and managers handling their teams need to be re-skilled/upskilled in handling IR issues.
In this edition, IR experts make an attempt to understand, visualize the possible IR landscape beyond Covid and share their wisdom. Their vast experience at ground zero while handling IR matters will surely provide useful and innovative insights. If you like it, let us know. If not, well, let us know that too. Happy Reading!
Regards, Anil Kaushik Business Manager - HR Magazine B-138, Ambedkar Nagar, Alwar - 301001 (Raj.) India Mob.: [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons] http://www.businessmanager.in
For HR professionals, among other challenges, one that may be a nerve-wracking exercise during and beyond the Covid environment in business organizations will be to maintain good equilibrium at the industrial or employee relations front. Industrial relations, employee relations, or IR, by whatever name it is called, are always organization-centric. It revolves around the culture, policies, and approach it builds, adopts, and nurtures.
Because Covid has created huge uncertainty and fear among employees and employers, both are stress-driven. Job losses, pay cuts, stoppage of increments, and restructuring of manpower are the causes of strain in relationships. Improving productivity with employee health safety and rebuilding trust with security among employees will be the new challenge. Employee relations are not going to be the same beyond the Covid era as they were. These may be more complex. The adverse impact on business caused by Covid will certainly take a long time to reverse. The way business was done pre-Covid will also change. Organizations will tend towards investing in more automation to improve productivity. This move will create more insecurity among employees because the first casualty of automation has always been the reduction in workforce numbers.
Changed work behaviors, social distancing at the workplace, fewer employees deployed at one time, and WFH norms will be the possible issues that may trigger dissatisfaction and unrest among the workforce in the near future. In many parts of the country, incidents of work stoppages, strikes, protests by workers due to the deferment of annual increments have started pouring in. The indication is not good. At the same time, employment terms are going to be reframed to meet the future uncertainties as created by the pandemic this time by the employers, which may add fuel to emerging dissatisfaction.
In such a double-edged situation, what HR professionals need to do while handling employee relations front is to be compassionate, reasonable, empathetic, and transparent. Any unilateral decision impacting the workforce may backfire. Employers need to be involved with consistent fair communication at all levels. Immediate supervisors and managers handling their teams need to be re-skilled/upskilled in handling IR issues.
In this edition, IR experts make an attempt to understand, visualize the possible IR landscape beyond Covid and share their wisdom. Their vast experience at ground zero while handling IR matters will surely provide useful and innovative insights. If you like it, let us know. If not, well, let us know that too. Happy Reading!
Regards, Anil Kaushik Business Manager - HR Magazine B-138, Ambedkar Nagar, Alwar - 301001 (Raj.) India Mob.: [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons] http://www.businessmanager.in
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