ARIZONA SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
WHAT’S NEXT FOR HR?
Here’s how the impact of the pandemic and the changes it brought will shape the future of human resources By ERIN THORBURN
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mergency preparedness isn’t anything new to human resources. Part of being in the profession is ensuring the health and well-being of employees as well as protecting the company’s infrastructure. As such, HR managing directors are accustomed to being “ready for anything.” Preparing everything from hazard and emergency plans, evacuation procedures and lockdown protocols, to how to appropriately communicate companywide emergency instructions and information, HR professionals are typically prepared for whatever comes down the pike. But, for all the emergency preparedness, you’d be hard-pressed to find many HR departments that were ready for a pandemic (prior to 2020). Yet, for as unexpected, alarming and disrupting as COVID-19 was (and continues to be), HR managers have demonstrated remarkable resiliency and ingenuity. With contingency measures such as working from home and hybrid schedules that many companies suspected would only be temporary, how are HR departments adjusting to what now looks to be more permanent workplace changes?
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AB | July - August 2021
