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"Managing institutions in the private and public sectors with the full strength of the employees will not be viable. Hence, organisations may resort to downsizing, layoffs, closing down unproductive plants/branches" CIPM President Jayantha Amarasinghe[/caption]
Working from home, schooling from home, social distancing, new workplace norms, new consumerism rules, and mask mandates; Covid-19 has forever left its mark on the way we live and work. This is especially the case when it comes to dealing with the human resource (HR) segment in the corporate world, as 2020 upended the priorities of most HR leaders.
Globally, HR leaders were thrown into the deep end of their industry, having to quickly navigate everything from remote work culture to legal concerns about salary cuts and layoffs. While the corporate world was slowly adopting trends such as remote working, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic accelerated its adoption, leaving no room for HR professionals to experiment with the new policies they were implementing.
This has led international HR leaders stumped as to what trends will be adopted by the corporate world in the current year, 2021. However, research done by multiple international bodies such as Gartner, a global research and advisory firm that provides information, advice, and tools for leaders in HR, have agreed on several key predictions. These include trends that put more emphasis on employee mental health, reliance on data-driven insights, and overcoming the challenges of a more fluid workforce to name a few.
Similar to the international HR sector, the Covid-19 pandemic also impacted Sri Lanka's HR sector and disrupted organisations irrespective of size or strategic value. A research done by the Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management (SLJHRM), titled “The Coronavirus and The Employees: A Study from the Point of Human Resource Management”, released on 30 June 2020, spoke on the impact of the virus on the employees. The study suggested a primary focus being placed on the employees and their safety, to ensure that the organisation operates smoothly.
However, a lot has changed in the last six months, as Sri Lanka faced its second wave in October 2020. To better understand what 2021 holds for the HR sector, we spoke with Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka (CIPM) President Jayantha Amarasinghe, a HR thought leader with nearly 30 years of leadership experience.
"The world of work had to go through unprecedented challenges in 2020 in terms of managing the human capital, which to date, continue to bring a level of uncertainty we have never experienced before,” said Amarasinghe when speaking on the changes to the HR sector seen in 2020.
He stated that in this context, organisations internationally have been compelled to adopt new working cultures in order to manage uninterrupted workflow and output, with respect to each organisation. These new work norms had to account for ways to manage a company's employees while still ensuring their wellbeing.
Amarasinghe stated that the main change in 2020 for the sector was in the flexible working arrangements, such as remote working/working from home, which many corporations were forced to adopt during the initial outbreak. He stated that due to this, the next generation of employees will demand to work on flexible work schedules, focusing on delivering results or the desired objectives without any limitations for routine work.
"The majority of them are concerned about delivering results without working during regular working hours. This will not disrupt the company's discipline, and instead is a simple demand by the employee that will allow them to complete a given task in their prefered way."
The second trend he pointed out was the increase in virtual workplaces, which has already been adopted by most corporations. He explained that while working at an office and having a physical presence was a must in most Sri Lankan offices prior to Covid-19, the pandemic has since completely disrupted that. This has paved that way for virtual or remote arrangements, which has helped businesses adapt to the changing times.
Thirdly, Amarasinghe stated there were more advancements in technology in the HR sector, with even inclusions of artificial intelligence (AI). He stated that this was coupled with real-time employee feedback, which paved the way for immediate appreciation given to an employee for their contribution, instead of waiting for long periods of time. Technology could also be seen playing a major role in training, with the employees learning and developing via virtual platforms.
"We also got to see employees work under tremendous pressure, as the lockdown required them to urgently deliver work, services, or production under a lot of pressure to cater to their respective demands."
Furthermore, he stated that 2020 also made these employees change their conventional work lives in order to adjust to the new norm. He explained that the pandemic also showcased the importance of employee loyalty to a given organisation and customers; as many employees risked their lives to deliver on their workload, despite financial benefits. This has fostered a better culture of trust between the employees and the organisations, than before.
Amarasinghe stated that other challenges of bringing revenue and delivering services were also seen to be shared between employees and achieved collectively through cross-generational teams.
"Finally, one of the more obvious HR challenges we faced is the health and safety of employees, which required corporations to focus more on employee wellbeing, which has become compulsory. The physiological well being of the employee is also critical for the organisations to drive performance."
HR in 2021
Amarasinghe stated that the biggest challenge in people management in 2021 will be to bring in policies, procedures, regulations, changes in labour law, corporate value chain, and training and development to accommodate the changes adopted in 2020's new working environment for sustainable business continuity. He stated that in this process, leaders in all the levels of HR and HR practitioners need to play a vital role in preparing the ground for reality.
"There may be situations in the event the Covid-19 pandemic is not addressed completely in the world, where managing institutions in the private and public sectors with the full strength of the employees will not be viable. Hence, organisations may resort to downsizing, layoffs, closing down unproductive plants/branches.”
Moreover, he stated that workforce planning with different options may be considered such as full-time employees, part-time employees, contract employees, etc. There will also be multi-skilling and re-skilling and digitalisation while moving towards a gig economy; changing the traditional performance management system to performance enablement where people will be assessed on their contribution towards “work that matters most”; and quick monthly conversations replacing bi-annual lengthy form-filling exercises.
Amarasinghe also stated that there will be a bigger focus on hybrid office structures, increasing risk of detachment in employee engagement, job-based to skill-based employment, and reduction in generational differences.
Speaking on international trends, he stated that there will be a worldwide focus on managing organisations, mainly with their local workforce, and opportunities for expatriates will be minimal. Globally, people who have been employees in foreign countries are returning back to their home country as a result of losing jobs, which will have an additional burden on talent management locally.
Furthermore, Amarasinghe stated that the labour market will be flooded with additional workforce. He explained that there will be global challenges in employee frustrations and in managing the psychology/expectations of the workforce.
"While managing social and financial commitments, leaders in organisations need to essentially understand and work towards bringing the required trust and attachment with employees in managing this crisis. We will see a revolution which will take place in areas such as hiring remote workers, popularity of wellness apps, increased migration to the cloud, rise of intelligent self-service tools, and a new breed of corporate learning tools."
"Managing institutions in the private and public sectors with the full strength of the employees will not be viable. Hence, organisations may resort to downsizing, layoffs, closing down unproductive plants/branches" CIPM President Jayantha Amarasinghe[/caption]
Working from home, schooling from home, social distancing, new workplace norms, new consumerism rules, and mask mandates; Covid-19 has forever left its mark on the way we live and work. This is especially the case when it comes to dealing with the human resource (HR) segment in the corporate world, as 2020 upended the priorities of most HR leaders.
Globally, HR leaders were thrown into the deep end of their industry, having to quickly navigate everything from remote work culture to legal concerns about salary cuts and layoffs. While the corporate world was slowly adopting trends such as remote working, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic accelerated its adoption, leaving no room for HR professionals to experiment with the new policies they were implementing.
This has led international HR leaders stumped as to what trends will be adopted by the corporate world in the current year, 2021. However, research done by multiple international bodies such as Gartner, a global research and advisory firm that provides information, advice, and tools for leaders in HR, have agreed on several key predictions. These include trends that put more emphasis on employee mental health, reliance on data-driven insights, and overcoming the challenges of a more fluid workforce to name a few.
Similar to the international HR sector, the Covid-19 pandemic also impacted Sri Lanka's HR sector and disrupted organisations irrespective of size or strategic value. A research done by the Sri Lankan Journal of Human Resource Management (SLJHRM), titled “The Coronavirus and The Employees: A Study from the Point of Human Resource Management”, released on 30 June 2020, spoke on the impact of the virus on the employees. The study suggested a primary focus being placed on the employees and their safety, to ensure that the organisation operates smoothly.
However, a lot has changed in the last six months, as Sri Lanka faced its second wave in October 2020. To better understand what 2021 holds for the HR sector, we spoke with Chartered Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka (CIPM) President Jayantha Amarasinghe, a HR thought leader with nearly 30 years of leadership experience.
"The world of work had to go through unprecedented challenges in 2020 in terms of managing the human capital, which to date, continue to bring a level of uncertainty we have never experienced before,” said Amarasinghe when speaking on the changes to the HR sector seen in 2020.
He stated that in this context, organisations internationally have been compelled to adopt new working cultures in order to manage uninterrupted workflow and output, with respect to each organisation. These new work norms had to account for ways to manage a company's employees while still ensuring their wellbeing.
Amarasinghe stated that the main change in 2020 for the sector was in the flexible working arrangements, such as remote working/working from home, which many corporations were forced to adopt during the initial outbreak. He stated that due to this, the next generation of employees will demand to work on flexible work schedules, focusing on delivering results or the desired objectives without any limitations for routine work.
"The majority of them are concerned about delivering results without working during regular working hours. This will not disrupt the company's discipline, and instead is a simple demand by the employee that will allow them to complete a given task in their prefered way."
The second trend he pointed out was the increase in virtual workplaces, which has already been adopted by most corporations. He explained that while working at an office and having a physical presence was a must in most Sri Lankan offices prior to Covid-19, the pandemic has since completely disrupted that. This has paved that way for virtual or remote arrangements, which has helped businesses adapt to the changing times.
Thirdly, Amarasinghe stated there were more advancements in technology in the HR sector, with even inclusions of artificial intelligence (AI). He stated that this was coupled with real-time employee feedback, which paved the way for immediate appreciation given to an employee for their contribution, instead of waiting for long periods of time. Technology could also be seen playing a major role in training, with the employees learning and developing via virtual platforms.
"We also got to see employees work under tremendous pressure, as the lockdown required them to urgently deliver work, services, or production under a lot of pressure to cater to their respective demands."
Furthermore, he stated that 2020 also made these employees change their conventional work lives in order to adjust to the new norm. He explained that the pandemic also showcased the importance of employee loyalty to a given organisation and customers; as many employees risked their lives to deliver on their workload, despite financial benefits. This has fostered a better culture of trust between the employees and the organisations, than before.
Amarasinghe stated that other challenges of bringing revenue and delivering services were also seen to be shared between employees and achieved collectively through cross-generational teams.
"Finally, one of the more obvious HR challenges we faced is the health and safety of employees, which required corporations to focus more on employee wellbeing, which has become compulsory. The physiological well being of the employee is also critical for the organisations to drive performance."
HR in 2021
Amarasinghe stated that the biggest challenge in people management in 2021 will be to bring in policies, procedures, regulations, changes in labour law, corporate value chain, and training and development to accommodate the changes adopted in 2020's new working environment for sustainable business continuity. He stated that in this process, leaders in all the levels of HR and HR practitioners need to play a vital role in preparing the ground for reality.
"There may be situations in the event the Covid-19 pandemic is not addressed completely in the world, where managing institutions in the private and public sectors with the full strength of the employees will not be viable. Hence, organisations may resort to downsizing, layoffs, closing down unproductive plants/branches.”
Moreover, he stated that workforce planning with different options may be considered such as full-time employees, part-time employees, contract employees, etc. There will also be multi-skilling and re-skilling and digitalisation while moving towards a gig economy; changing the traditional performance management system to performance enablement where people will be assessed on their contribution towards “work that matters most”; and quick monthly conversations replacing bi-annual lengthy form-filling exercises.
Amarasinghe also stated that there will be a bigger focus on hybrid office structures, increasing risk of detachment in employee engagement, job-based to skill-based employment, and reduction in generational differences.
Speaking on international trends, he stated that there will be a worldwide focus on managing organisations, mainly with their local workforce, and opportunities for expatriates will be minimal. Globally, people who have been employees in foreign countries are returning back to their home country as a result of losing jobs, which will have an additional burden on talent management locally.
Furthermore, Amarasinghe stated that the labour market will be flooded with additional workforce. He explained that there will be global challenges in employee frustrations and in managing the psychology/expectations of the workforce.
"While managing social and financial commitments, leaders in organisations need to essentially understand and work towards bringing the required trust and attachment with employees in managing this crisis. We will see a revolution which will take place in areas such as hiring remote workers, popularity of wellness apps, increased migration to the cloud, rise of intelligent self-service tools, and a new breed of corporate learning tools."