Impact of the Pandemic on Productivity
Regarding the question finally raised in the post, the individual and team productivity of employees are bound to decrease considerably due to shop floor restrictions like limited shift workings and the maintenance of social distancing, imposed on the manufacturing sector where work from home is not possible. The monotony and lack of social interaction imposed by the WFH arrangement, restricted movement of raw materials and finished products due to transport curbs, and eventual cost escalation affecting the supply chain, along with the homeward migration of a large number of inter-state and intra-state migrant workers, contribute to this decline. Therefore, the ultimate problem for management becomes maintaining productivity levels commensurate with the degree of negative impacts created by the continual lockdown due to the intermittent spread of the Covid-19 virus simultaneously across different parts of the globe. A pandemic anywhere has thus become a problem everywhere.
The Proactive Role of HR
Here comes the proactive role of HR people guiding the top management to take business policy decisions befitting the pandemic scenario likely to last for some more quarters, possible reductions in human resource costs, temporary stalling of tempting but risky expansion programs, and effectively coordinating with the line managers in their manpower planning and production scheduling. Thus, the situation under the epidemic has inevitably culminated in a syndrome of performance and productivity issues everywhere despite the nature of the industry. Particularly, it has become a cul-de-sac in the air transport industry, leaving thousands of highly paid employees jobless.
Therefore, I would prefer to answer the query affirmatively only. Only those HR managers having a bird's eye view of the epidemic scenario, a thorough understanding of the business of the establishment, and a legal bent of mind with compassion can play their roles effectively in the present context.