The Effect of COVID-19 on HR Practices
Description/Abstract/Artist Statement
In Spring 2021, 1,356 Human Resource (HR) Professionals responded to a survey about human resource agility practices they used in response to the pandemic. This is the third of a four-wave data collection tracking HR practices since mid-2020. The list included 56 agility practices that ranged from remote work to making changes to employees’ compensation and benefits plans to manage the financial disruption caused by COVID-19. Compared to September 2020, fewer employees worked from home in January 2021, fewer training and development opportunities were offered, and fewer workers were affected by changes in job assignments. Findings suggest the majority of HR changes occurred between March and September 2020, with fewer changes in fall 2020 and spring 2021 as employees and managers found new routines for how to work under these new conditions. We also asked about employee morale and adaptability. HR professionals reported that morale was low between March and September 2020 (M = 2.57, SD = 0.96; 5-point scale), but has improved (M = 2.80, SD = 0.82; 5-point scale). However, while morale was relatively low between March and September 2020, employee adaptability was high (M = 3.89, SD = 0.92; 5-point scale), as was their willingness to cooperate (M = 3.47, SD = 0.87; 5-point scale). Both have declined slightly since that time. In all, this research tells us that while organizations and employees were willing and able to adapt at the beginning of the pandemic, organizations and employees have perhaps settled into their old ways since.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Emily Campion
College Affiliation
College of Business (Strome)
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Disciplines
Human Resources Management
Session Title
Management Research Lab
Location
Zoom Room CC
Start Date
3-20-2021 2:00 PM
End Date
3-20-2021 2:55 PM
The Effect of COVID-19 on HR Practices
Zoom Room CC
In Spring 2021, 1,356 Human Resource (HR) Professionals responded to a survey about human resource agility practices they used in response to the pandemic. This is the third of a four-wave data collection tracking HR practices since mid-2020. The list included 56 agility practices that ranged from remote work to making changes to employees’ compensation and benefits plans to manage the financial disruption caused by COVID-19. Compared to September 2020, fewer employees worked from home in January 2021, fewer training and development opportunities were offered, and fewer workers were affected by changes in job assignments. Findings suggest the majority of HR changes occurred between March and September 2020, with fewer changes in fall 2020 and spring 2021 as employees and managers found new routines for how to work under these new conditions. We also asked about employee morale and adaptability. HR professionals reported that morale was low between March and September 2020 (M = 2.57, SD = 0.96; 5-point scale), but has improved (M = 2.80, SD = 0.82; 5-point scale). However, while morale was relatively low between March and September 2020, employee adaptability was high (M = 3.89, SD = 0.92; 5-point scale), as was their willingness to cooperate (M = 3.47, SD = 0.87; 5-point scale). Both have declined slightly since that time. In all, this research tells us that while organizations and employees were willing and able to adapt at the beginning of the pandemic, organizations and employees have perhaps settled into their old ways since.