HR today is more than just managing employee information and benefits and facilitating payroll.

Unless you’ve worked in human resources, you probably haven’t given much thought and value to HR’s strategic importance. Of course, HR may be about recruiting people, organizing training sessions, and designing benefits and compensation programs. Still, more importantly, it is about enabling business results while offering an excellent and exhilarating experience for employees.

The HR role is more critical than ever, especially after Covid 19. Historically, the HR role was not considered strategic compared to the CFO, the head of Sales, or any other position depending on your industry.

The pandemic has highlighted HR’s importance in innovative ways and spotlighted everything they can do to make a company run smoothly in a crisis. After the pandemic, their role has become more crucial in keeping the culture thriving. Besides, they have to make extra efforts to learn things beyond and become experts at these things that no one has ever been through.

HR has a critical role in company culture, but what does that role look like when employees work apart from each other and live under the enormous strain of a global pandemic?

Suppose that’s the environment that various HR departments across the country and around the world are facing. What can companies do to develop an environment where employees feel empowered to thrive?

• Adopt kindness

Practising kindness can have a significant impact on improving productivity and efficiency and also reduce turnover rates. How do you practice empathy when you’re at work? Serendipitous encounters with a colleague in the lobby or breakroom are a thing that employees are missing out on at home. A ‘Thank you by a colleague or a ‘Well done expressed by their manager are some of those moments. HR managers can find ways to replace these moments in a virtual environment. Saying ‘Well done during a one-to-one conversation or sending an email or text message is a small but worthy thing to do that offers the employee a feeling of happiness or appreciation.

• Tone Plays a Significant Role

The tone has a vital role to play in the HR role, which helps to develop long-term relationships with employees, builds trust, encourages employees and helps in many other things!

With the right tone, HR can motivate employees to block time thinking, go outside and have a great time with their friends or family, spend time with their kids or whatever helps them feel relaxed and loosened up.

• Flexibility is Vital to the Employee Experience

What it means to return to the office in a world that’s drastically improved but still not completely recovered from the pandemic, the principle of top-down kindness will play a substantial role in the final decision. Thus, deciding on bringing back employees to the office should not be a quick decision; HR managers should take their time and then come to a conclusion.

But even if there are still more things to look at about what returning to the office will ultimately look like, it’s evident that the desire for more flexibility is more important to the employee experience than before. A lot of efforts put in by HR during the pandemic help people flourish. The organizations that keep the employee experience at the top are the ones who will not just survive but even come back stronger than before COVID.

Leaders will continue to value HR as the strategic partner they’ve always been. So whether you’re looking for professional HR consultancy services or a leading provider of CIPD courses, you can reach us.