The Impact of COVID-19 on the New Normal of Work of HR Managers in IT Industry

8

XI

https://doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2020.31999

November 2020

International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com

The Impact of COVID-19 on the New Normal of Work of HR Managers in IT Industry Ms. Anushka Choubey1, Dr. Archana Srivastava2 1, 2

Balaji Institute of Modern Management, Sri Balaji Society

Abstract: World surely has a warning and alarming situation due to the global pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 since December 19 taking along human cost, mentally and physically with economic cost too.

The spread of this phage is baneful worldwide without any proven official medical treatment. Governments around the world are taking measures of country lockdown and stay at home for social distancing, leading to substantial increase in unemployment circumstances, revoked summer internships, economic loss of trillions dollar, poor job satisfaction, lessen motivation and workplace depression crisis among organization’s employees with far reaching impacts.

At this time, every organizations wants their human resource managers to work out of this badly driven health and economic crisis. The human resource representatives and their behaviors are the pillars of strength and biggest support center of companies to battle the unpredictable circumstances and to get the better of the human depression among the staffs at the numbers of organizations around the globe. During the badly stricken conditions and to face the challenges, Human resource managers are highly concerned about their employees from motivating them to reduce the impacts on their personal as well as professional life by applying various techniques during this time of crisis.

This paper reveals how COVID 19 has impacted operations of HR Managers. Samples will be collected by sending questionnaire to the employees of IT industries in order to test the hypothesis. Method is Quantitative Research Method as all the data which is collected through questionnaire is stastical which need to be analysed further. Data will be both Primary data as well as secondary data. Analysis method used will be Multiple linear regression and analysis tool is Statistical product and service solutions. Hence, at the end we will be able to find whether COVID 19 has made HR the most important job in sustainability or not as well as Remote work culture has made differences in HR Operations or it’s same as before.

Keywords: COVID-19, workplace depression crisis, HR Operations, Remote Work Culture I. INTRODUCTION Today Organizations are facing increasing uncertainty as they traverse today’s “Grand challenges”, or highly significant problems not typically cramped to national, economic or societal borders. Diverse, involving a range of complicated issues such as climate change, severe economic breakouts and financial instability are the grand questions of today. In our interconnected world, these notable issues can pose an straight threat to organizations’ liveliness, inspiring organizations to remain responsive and adaptive as they organize and manage their workforce. But with the recent outbreak of COVID-19, organizations face a big challenge of unparalleled proportions, one that forces them to dive into and directly manage unequalled territory as they need to alter their workforce in technical, physical and socio-psychological ways by adopting new strategies not seen before.

The COVID-19 has began from the city of Wuhan, China and inundated the entire globe into its fatal claws. The number of loss of life has increased heavily since March 2020.

It is obvious that the number of open cases has now reached a level of millions in all over the globe. Likewise, the total cases, the number of deaths from COVID-19 is also increasing on per day basis. According to World Health Organization (WHO), lockdown and restricting the people from socializing is the only way to overcome the challenge.

This has created a lot of mess all over the world. After engulfing a lot of lives across the world, the recent pandemic has left a lot of worse impact on the economic well-being of the economies that include slashes of jobs or reducing their salaries, promoting work from home and so on. The impact of this fact varies from sectors to sectors. It means that its impact is adverse on some economies and lighter on the other. Nevertheless, most of the economies are having a tough economic time.

Due to shift in remote work culture, losing of jobs abruptly and mounting the debt pressure, lots of employees across the globe are getting unsatisfied. The Human Resources (HR) department in different parts of the world is focusing upon altering their work policies professionally. For that purpose, they are taking a lot of measures and points into considerations.

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com The aim of this research paper is to understand that the role of Human Resources Management (HRM) towards the employees as far as curbing the adverse impact of COVID-19 is concerned. The explains exactly how this remote work culture is impacting the operations of HR. Undoubtedly employees are a strategic asset of any organization, that has to be managed, preserved and retained with focus on experienced and skilled ones by giving them proper trainings and understanding their problems and solving them.

The significance and value of this research is broad because it links with different variables at the same time. In one hand the research will be helpful for the HR Department of different companies for managing the employees during turbulent and critical times, like pandemic covid-19. While in the other hand, this research would definitely be effectual base for future researchers on pandemic related HR practices and studies.

II.

RESEARCH PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVES

A. Primary Objectives 1) To understand that COVID 19 has made HR the most important job in sustainability.

2) To observe the significant impact of Remote Work culture on HR Operations B. Secondary Objectives 1) To identify what are the new communication strategies are adopted by HR to improve work.

1) a) b) 2) a) b) 3) a) b) 4) a) b) 5) a) b)

III. HYPOTHESIS Hypothesis 1.1 H0 : There is no significant effect of Online Training on HR Operations.

H1 : There is significant effect of Online Training on HR Operations.

Hypothesis 1.2 H0 : There is no significant effect of E-recruitment (Online Hiring Decisions & Job Offers) on HR Operations.

H1 : There is significant effect of E-recruitment (Online Hiring Decisions & Job Offer) on HR Operations.

Hypothesis 1.3 H0 : There is no significant effect of Digital Learning on HR Operations.

H1 : There is significant effect of Digital Learning on HR Operations.

Hypothesis 1.4 H0 : There is no significant effect of Virtual Meetings & Managing Daily Operations on HR Operations.

H1 : There is significant effect of Virtual Meetings & Managing Daily Operations on HR Operations.

Hypothesis 1.5 H0 : There is no significant effect of Online Performance appraisal on HR Operations.

H1 : There is significant effect of Online Performance appraisal on HR Operations.

IV. REVIEW OF LITERATURE COVID-19 is spreading like wildfire and leaving behind its fatal impact across the world. Human Resources are one of the important part of any organization. It need to be handled with the uttermost care and dignity all the time, and not just during this crisis. Various short-terms and long terms HR measures which are best suited in their wisdom are planned by companies (Rajaram Agarwal, 2020).

Humans are the greatest resources in every organization. Rajaram Agarwal (2020) has also mentioned that attracting and retaining the right talent are some of the key management exercises which contribute to the success of any organization. To build an employer brand, it takes a long time. Every HR measure should be carefully thought out and scrutinized through 3 dimensions and they are employee, the cost-benefit as well as the legal.

Tony Lee (April 2020) similarly notes that the smack of the coronavirus on the functioning world was hard to imagine just two months ago. Since early March, a wide range of chiefly service-sector businesses have closed, most either furloughing or laying off their employees. Companies that are still operating are relying on platoon of employees to work remotely or are equipping their workers (many now considered "essential") with personal protective equipment, hand-washing stations and other tools to lessen risk so they can do their jobs onsite.

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com Human resources is a interdisciplinary domain. You need to be everything from a finance expert to a therapist to a salesperson to a lawyer if you want to do everything in a right way. This is mainly the case for HR generalists in smaller businesses who have to do it all.(Suzanne Lucas, 2020). Changes in the HR and employee relations had seen at top speed through this article. The Family First Coronavirus Response act added new events for small businesses that needed well educated HR. The Payroll Protection Program put requirements around how many human capital you could terminate and payroll needed to look upon. These things are of main importance to HR managers. Those are only two of the many, many changes HR had to systematize through.

In addition, Tony Lee (2020) has mentioned that according to survey, Eighty-two percent are closing down definite aspects of their business, while 76 percent are laying off staffs and one-third are cutting headcount with no aim to rehire.

The first task of any HR professional is to succour the company succeed through recruiting, retaining and developing the best people. And now we have a worldwide health crisis. (Suzanne Lucas, 2020).

Aoife Harte (April, 2020) has presented the challenges faced by human resources during the COVID pandemic by mentioning that people have been affected in so many ways, mentally, physically, financially over the world. It's a scary time for everyone to experience and now more than ever businesses are relying on our HR departments to ensure that our staffs can feel as safe as possible during this tempestuous time.

In this vein Suzanne (2020) highlights that HR counsels on the sturdy decisions companies must make - who gets laid off, who gets called back first and how to balance company needs with employees' concerns. You can't run a business without the people, but some people have authorized reasons not to want to return to the workforce.

Based on the identified pressures which may explain the potential sardonic effects of COVID-19 outbreak on employees’ mental health and diminishing factors that may attenuate or aggravate these effects, we have evolved a list of considerations and recommendations for workplaces, chiefly for managers and for human management practitioners. During and after the pandemic, it’s important to take alleviation measures to lessen its potential negative effects on individual’s mental health (Brooks, 2020). In this context, we suggest that orgnizations should develop a short-term and long-term organizational plan, based on the following suggestions.

Managers in collaboration with HRM professionals require to enlarge a communication plan, which clearly represents the decisions related to the business continuity plan of the organization during the pandemic (Smith, 2007). Futhermore, Its important to maintain continuous communication with their employees whether they are physically present or not in the workplace by the managers (Greer & Payne 2014). Moreover, employer should involve employee in the preparation of the post pendemic business plan of action, which will lessen employees’ mental health (Karasek, 1979).

Training is also important during and after the pandemic. It is regarded as a preventive factor against mental health issues (Brooks, 2018). It aids to educate staffs about the necessary behaviours and their importance in the interception of viral spread. General coaching about COVID-19 and the cause for quarantine can reduce stigmatization in the organisation (Brooks, 2020). Training also needs to indulge managers.

As everyone knows that COVID-19 is an unexpected crisis, it’s important for mangers to be coached and trained on how to manage it, which may reduce their level of stress. They also require to be trained and how they should oversee virtual teams, considering the backdrop of teleworking, in order to be able to encourage their team members. Co-development programs should be implemented in this situation, to develop employees and managers’ abilities to subsist with the COVID 19 impact on the workplace.

As the conditions evolves, organization expect to see a transpose in the focus and a re-prioritisation of operational and human risks as firms come to terms with managing scattered workforces. (Maneesha Garg, May 2020). From heightened levels of fraud, including cyber fraud, as criminals attempt to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry is at higher risk. Over the coming months, these will become more evident and we will look to provide better insight as to how the sector is responding to emerging threats such as chicanery, data security, reputational impacts and employee due diligence (EDD).

Hiring continues during the COVID-19 pandemic, as some companies need to bring fresh employees on board to serve customer or product development requirements.

During this pandemic, employers are looking upon various employees concerns such as consider the need for different skills, be attuned to concerns over physical contact, manage the pace of onboarding, create opportunities for social interaction, respect employee privacy (employers need to be focused on easing fears, and this includes protecting employees' private health information) (Lin Grensing-Pophal, 2020).

In an article by Tim McElgunn (2020), He concurred that Human Resources is at the front lines of employers’ retaliation to the COVID 19 crisis.

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com Here are 5 effects that we’ll likely be dealing with long after things back to “normal” & they are - Remote work will be a everlasting feature for more organizations, Nurturing culture gets more endergizing in bestrewed workplaces, Talent acquisition and retention remains censorious and with the number of people working remotely fulminating, employers face new policy issues and probably very real employment law concerns.

COVID-19 has twirled numerous companies into federations of remote workplaces, but without suggesting on how their onboarding of new employees must change, says Boris Groysberg (2020) Uncertainty can debilitate anyone. The formidable feeling of not knowing what the future holds or what measures to take to sustain organizational operations is a immense challenge. Everyone is more or less affected by uncertainty. Staffs are affected mentally and the HR teams are struggling to put everything in positioning to respond to the crisis and succeed productive strategies for all (Braja Deepon Roy, 2020).

Rajaram Agarwal (2020) added that organizations are reviewing the struture of business and ecosystems of the future, and reworking on employment arrangements.

They require to coach staffs not only on the changes in the business environment, customer engagement and digital capabilities, but also on controlling crises, adaptability, and resilience.

The Coronavirus is accelerating one of the immense business transformations in decades. Yes, it’s a health crisis but for most of the organizations, it’s also an magnificient opportunity to transform (Joshbersin, April 2020). In the middle of a pandemic, research also shows that organizations are serving their employees better than ever and employee engagement, a problem that plagues more than two-thirds of companies year after year, is actually rising up.

Subramanyam S (2020) has shared in his article that organizations worldwide are addressing instantaneous issues of keeping employees safe, ensuring best utilization of staff, and nourishing the continuity of business operations. Irrespective of the case, companies worldwide are going out of their ways and doing their bestest to ensure harmonious deliveries and consistently upgrading productivity even during these extraordinary circumstances.

In such a scenario, To handle the ongoing crisis and ensuring smooth operations of their organizations are the most crucial role of HR. Today, HR is a crucial part of driving the company’s success. During these unusual times, the role of HR leaders becomes very important and they are expected to acknowledge quickly and comprehensively, considering immediate, short-term and long-term consequences of this worldwide crisis. (Subramanyam S, 2020) As mentioned previously also Joshbersin (April, 2020) noted that organisations are giving employees more flexible advantages & they’re improving virtual works. By the way, one of the biggest HR inclination over the last decade is the shift away from “individual performance” to “team performance”. Joshbersin updated that The crisis is accelerating this too. let’s celebrate the silver lining in this crisis, it will make our companies and our lives finer in the long run.

Aoife Harte (April, 2020) advised through his article that we have seen/heard of many acts of kindness during the COVID-19 Pandemic. He told that it is very important to listen to HR Departments during this time as they are experiencing best in protecting the employees.

Suzanne Lucas (May, 2020) has summed up by commenting that there are some downsides to what we're learning and how things will transform. Some businesses will not at all come back.

Some employees will not perceive new jobs for a long time. Some HR people will find it arduous to recover from the tough task we've been asked to do.

But overall, the new normal will come with HR being a finer organization - and we’ll all have grasp a lot, together.

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7)

V. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Method : Quantitative Research Method Data Type : Primary Data & Secondary Data Data Collection Method : Survey through Questionnaire Sample Size: 144 Respondents : Employees of IT Industry Analysis Method : Multiple Linear Regression Analysis Tool : SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions)

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com VI. A. Descriptive Statistics

DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND HYPOTHESES TESTING

Std. Deviation

Mean

N

HR Operations

3.51

1.194

144

Coordinating a corporate response

3.13

1.202

144

Digital learning

3.94

1.202

144

Online training

4.17

1.099

144

Payroll management

3.05

1.259

144

3.03

1.194

144

Employee Relationship Management

3.50

1.218

144

Hiring decisions and job offers

3.53

1.206

144

Performance Appraisal

3.67

1.103

144

Meetings and Managing daily operations

Descriptive statistics such as mean (5-point scale) and standard deviation (Higher σ indicates higher variability of respondents’ perceptions) were used to measure the variables and also used to describe the mean of dependent and independent variables. Table shows the mean value of HR Operations is 3.51 and standard deviation 1.194. The mean value of Coordinating a corporate response is 3.13 and standard deviation 1.202. The mean value of Digital learning is 3.94 and standard deviation 1.202. The mean value of Online training is 4.17 and standard deviation 1.099. The mean value of payroll management is 3.05 and standard deviation 1.259.

The mean value of meetings and managing daily operations is 3.03 and standard deviation 1.194. The mean value of Employee relationship management is 3.50 and standard deviation 1.218. The mean value of Hiring decisions and job offers is 3.53 and standard deviation 1.206. Finally, The mean value of performance appraisal is 3.67 and standard deviation 1.103.

B. Model Summary

Model

1

Change Statistics R R Square Adjusted R Square .825a .680 .661

Std. Error of the Estimate .695

R Square Change .680

F Change 35.893

df1 8

Sig. F Chang df2 e 135 .000

1) Predictors : (Constants), Performance Appraisal, Online Training, Digital learnings, Meetings and Managing daily operations, Hiring decisions and job offers, Coordinating a corporate response, Payroll Management, Employee Relationship Management 2) Dependent Variable : HR Operations

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com In order to achieve the objective of this study, multiple linear regressions were used to study the effect of the independent variables to dependent variable.

In the above table, the value of adjusted R-square is showing that the dependent variable (HR Operations) is influenced 66.1% by independent variables (Performance Appraisal, Online training, Digital learning, Meetings and Managing daily operations, Hiring decisions and job offers, Coordinating a corporate response, Payroll management, Employee Relationship Management). It is being observed that the value of R. Square is greater than 0.5, so it indicates that these variables can impact the HR Operations in IT industry.

ANOVAb Model 1

Regression

Sum of Squares 138.757

Residual Total

df

Mean Square 17.345

8

65.236 203.993

135 143

F 35.893

Sig. .000a

.483

a) Predictors: (Constant), Performance Appraisal, Online training, Digital learning, Meetings and Managing daily operations, Hiring decisions and job offers, Coordinating a corporate response, Payroll management, Employee Relationship Management b) Dependent Variable: HR Operations In the above table of ANOVA, we can observe that overall model was significant. Since the sig. value is less than 0.05 so it indicates that the model is statistically significant. It is clear that all the independent variables are connected to the dependent variable (F=35.893) (sig 0.000)

Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients B 1

Std. Error

(Constant)

.787

.363

Coordinating a corporate response

.095

.075

Digital learning

-.010

Online training

Standardized Coefficients Beta

t

Sig.

2.169

.032

.096

1.264

.208

.049

-.010

-.201

.841

-.131

.054

-.121

-2.438

.016

.050

.071

.053

.703

.483

Meetings and Managing daily operations

-.043

.072

-.043

-.589

.557

Employee Relationship Management

.031

.078

.032

.397

.692

Hiring decisions and job offers Performance Appraisal

.660

.066

.666

9.955

.000

.148

.065

.137

2.296

.023

Payroll management

a) Dependent Variable: HR Operations

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com The summary of hypotheses results Hypothesis There is no significant effect of Online Training on HR Operations.

There is no significant effect of E-recruitment (Online Hiring Decisions & Job Offers) on HR Operations.

There is no significant effect of Digital Learning on HR Operations.

There is no significant effect of Virtual Meetings & Managing Daily Operations on HR Operations.

There is no significant effect of Online Performance appraisal on HR Operations.

Results Reject null hypothesis

Reject null hypothesis Failed to reject null hypothesis Failed to reject null hypothesis Reject null hypothesis

VII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS – FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Size of the Company (Worldwide) 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

42

22 18 14

12

9

10

8

9 Series1

The above graph shows that out of 144 respondents, 1) 15.27% belongs to the IT company of size 0-99 employees (worldwide) 2) 12.5% belongs to the IT company of size 100-499 employees (worldwide) 3) 9.73% belongs to the IT company of size 500-999 employees (worldwide) 4) 8.34% belongs to the IT company of size 1,000-1,499 employees (worldwide) 5) 6.25% belongs to the IT company of size 1,500-4,999 employees (worldwide) 6) 6.95% belongs to the IT company of size 5,000-9,999 employees (worldwide) 7) 5.56% belongs to the IT company of size 10,000-24,999 employees (worldwide) 8) 6.25% belongs to the IT company of size 25,000-99,999 employees (worldwide) 9) 29.16% belongs to the IT company of size 1,00,000 or more employees (worldwide)

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com B. Impact of Remote work culture on HR operations at Orgnisation (Overall)

Impact of Remote Work Culture On HR Operations at organization (overall) 70 64

No. of respondents

60 50

49

40 Series1

30 23

20 10

7

1 0 No Challenge

Little challenging

Neutral

Challenging

Extremely Challenging

Based on the observed likert score, we can say that 0.69% of respondents face no challenge while working remotely and depicts its significant impact on HR operations whereas 4.86% feels little challenging, 15.97% respondents are neutral, 34.03% found this challenging & 44.45% respondents reacted as extremely challenging.

In response to the coronavirus situation, has your organization altered remote-work policies?

Yes

No

Maybe/Don't know

13% 8%

79%

Out of organizations where this 144 respondents are currently working, 79% of organization has altered the remote work policies, 8% of organization has not made any changes whereas 13% respondents are not sure.

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com

Do you believe that you are ready to make greater use of digital learning to meet your learning needs?

Yes

No

Maybe/Don't know

15% 4%

81%

Out of organizations where this 144 respondents are currently working, 81% of the respondents believe that they are ready to make greater use of digital learning to meet their learning needs whereas 4% responded no and 15% are not sure about it.

In the google form, when it is asked by respondents to elaborate and provide examples of actions they are taking to increase the use of remote work culture during this period, The responses were 1) Engaging in learning technologies.

2) Younger generations are more particular in finding flexibility through Remote Work Culture adding up with the technology.

Convenience & better productivity can be the part of the ultimate outcome.

3) Daily Reports & PPTs. 4) VDI, VM ware 5) No remote work, direct customer interaction!

6) Learning new skills which will help in future job opportunities.

7) Cancelled all the live events, meetings, greets & replaced it with video conferencing tools so as to maintain the flow of work by keeping the safety measures in mind.

8) Encouraging work from home, Changing company policies & Training modules are being changed into online mode learning.

9) TCS’ Secure Borderless Workspsces (SBWS) is a transformative operating model framework. This transformative model enables remote access of employees, sets up a suitable cybersecurity framework and all project management practices and systems needed to ensure that work allocation, monitoring and reporting continues as normal.

Do you believe that "New Normal" will come with HR being a finer organisation?

Yes

No

Maybe/Don't Know

29% 65% 6%

Out of organizations where this 144 respondents are currently working, 65% respondents believe that “New Normal” will come with HR being a finer organization, whereas 6% don’t believe that this new normal will come with HR being a finer organization and 29% of respondents are not sure about this.

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com VIII. LIMITATIONS A. Challenges & Opportunities for HR Managers impacted by COVID-19 in IT Industry is not well understood and yet to be closely studied B. Due to pandemic situation & time constraint the study involves less number of respondents C. The study is limited to IT sector further extended to only 1 company IX. CONCLUSION COVID-19 pandemic is an unrivalled calamity that is testing professional and personal relations around the globe. Companies HR Managers have to take strong steps to counter this situation atleast for two years. There is a huge responsibility for Human Resource managers to maintain the motivation of all the employees and make them more productive and efficient as we can observe from the findings that there is a significant impact of remote work culture on HR Operations. There are still some companies who are working on transition of work from home and altering remote work policies. While certain concerns may initially slow down progress, and most of the companies has shifted to work from home, steady and positive communication from all parties will help maintain organization’s morale and keep employee relations intact as the world moves through this challenge. Hence this makes HR the most important job in sustainability.

X. FURTHER RESEARCH DIRECTIONS 1) Training programs uplift employee satisfaction, make employees to perform better and let them give better results. The rapid spread of COVID has led to unprecedented shift in HR Operations. Out of 144 respondents, 74 respondents felt online training as a extremely challenging. An fruitful training department can be condemning to stemming such chaos. During this time, HR should majorily focus on Health & Hygiene, Identifying and isolating suspected cases, work from home & sick leave policies and WFH preparedness.

2) While e-recruitment is becoming more new normal, many companies are still not employing the solution as effectual as possible. Out of 144 respondents, 39 feels as extremely challenging, 40 as challenging whereas 30 are neutral. Organisation should adopt strategies such as : a) Use the data to identify the best social network sources resulting in productive employees by tracking the performance of new hires. b) Keep job applicants occupied by emailing them incessant updates on interview schedules & expected timetable for feedback. c) Create an required profile of the ideal candidate, including relevant skills, expertise and personality needed for cultural fit. Once the data is detailed, configure the e-recruitment system to forage for this data 3) According to survey, there are 81% of total respondents feels that they are ready to make greater use of digital learning to meet there learning needs whereas 15% were not sure. Hence it is very important to encourage digital learning within organization. a) Including some insights that why users are being tasked with taking this course and how it will directly benefit them. b) Connect it to goals – either personal or company-wide c) Keep modules short and to the point d) Trigger proper knowledge 4) Out of organizations where this 144 respondents are currently working, 79% of organization has altered the remote work policies. Well remote work policies contour who can work from home, how they should go about doing the work, what is expected by them & their legal rights as remote employees. With no commute, no lunch rush & no long hours in the office away from family or friends, working remotely can improve the health and wellness of employees by lessening stress & keeping understandable of sick colleagues can be effective in reducing common cold.

5) Annual Performance Appraisal are a thing of the past. A continuous performance management system is what will keep an organization and its workforce on the same page during times of uncertainty and indecision. Being particular about what is working and what is not, ensuring conclusion on where to improve will go a long way in improving the productivity of employees. Employees in a remote working scenario, if some employees are not meeting a deadline or are not receptive, it would be wrong to assume that they are inefficacious and judge their performance. Instead, it is important to trust them and reach out to them as they might be inundated or might be dealing with a personal matter.

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International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 7.429 Volume 8 Issue XI Nov 2020- Available at www.ijraset.com REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

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