WWW trends prompted by COVID-19

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By Alex Ogundadegbe
How is your organization responding to the pandemic? Precaution is the key, so as not to go the way of countries that defied the Corona Virus and later ended up going into a lockdown the second time because of careless defiance. After about five months of working with and trying to overcome the Corona Virus with strident measures that are drawn up to protect the workforce and ensure that we are not only alive but remain healthy, international human resource management (IHRM) has highlighted some basic trends that have emerged in workforces the world over. We can view these trends from the perspective of the HR department of major organizations and from the Individual hand and respiratory hygiene measures. The simple but pertinent instructions of frequent hand washing, sanitization with alcohol based sanitizers as well as mask wearing and social distancing are just measures that individuals have been advised to adopt.
Generally, major organizations have directed that a large number of staff engage in remote working. The term “telecommuting” which i to the use of vital technology for work activity from a distant location distinct from the workplace has become a buzz word in the corporate world.
As coronavirus cases have surged, Forbes records that the number of companies asking their employees to work from home has also increased, with 46% of American businesses having implemented remote-work policies as of mid-February 2020. While telecommuting has become more mainstream in recent years—the remote workforce grew 159% between 2005 and 2017—when just 3.4% of Americans work from home at least half of the time, it’s not unreasonable to think that many of the employees who have been asked to work from home due to the corona virus may have little to no experience doing so, or at least not for an extended period of time. The UK has eased total lockdown but many organizations are yet to open fully and distancing appears to be the order of the day in major sectors.
Nigeria and South Africa governments have also implimented a distant working policy for a lot its workers. The nature of the job and ability of the employee as well as the availability of tools for the employee to work remotely are major factors for consideration. African private sector companies have embraced telecommuting concepts on a wide scale. South Africa, one of the largest economies in the continent has eased lockdowns partially but still has vast numbers of workers engaging in telecommuting to achieve their work-based objectives. HR departments have engaged in a large collection of data. Before COVID 19, data was a major source for decision making in that human resource information systems and workforce software charts were engaged in major environments. But since many bosses can not watch workers at work as much as they want to, data collection has expanded, for decision making and it is also being used to reorganize the work place and reduce the preponderance of the virus. Working with health authorities, HR personnel are looking into the way individuals contracted the ailment and are using the information to protect others from future occurances.
A lot of organizations around the world have cut the numbers of people on their work schedule. Michael Hammer’s concept of reengineering has kicked in as there have been major moves to ensure that companies and corporations adjust to suit the times they have found themselves in. There have been massive layoffs in some organizations resulting in what is often called “dehumanization of the workforce” -abrupt and forced disengagement, salary cuts, salary delays or none payment. Some workers have been sent on forced leave with a promise from their employers that “as soon as the situation improves we shall recall you”. In effect shopping malls, restaurants and clothing arcades that have not shut down totally have gone into delivery mode, working online and via telephone to deliver orders. A lot of these deliveries are handled by contigent workers, causal members of the workforce that can be laid off as soon as orders dwindle. New trends of top tier employers have emerged, especially in the technology sector where there is massive pressure to create and use software and hardware that will not only enhance social and physical distancing but would ensure that telecommuting is improved drastically. Top tier employers include those in medical based work activity where there is a large demand for doctors, nurses, laboratory attendants, and pharamacists as well as care givers generally. Goverrnment, non profit and private sector profit based organizations are generally demonstrating different responses to the pandemic with varying focuses on the social safety net which often defines employer-employee relations.
A lot of organizations have reordered the nature of their workflow. Individual roles and skills requirements have been separated critically to determine which are important to the functionability and effectiveness of the organization. Roles have been streamlined more than ever before. Some workers have found that by using technology like Google based zoom, the exchange of documentation, views and opinions as well as ideas on strategy has become more pliable from a remote perspective. Organizations have therefore become more complex in operations from a technological point of view.

 

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