Some key takeaways from 2021: Notable HR policies that helped the employees sail through the tough times

The year of 2021 was the road of up and downs. The organisations showed their innate resilience to counter the pandemic's influence on the market and paved way to the new playbook of work. With that in mind, few insights and takeaways that the leaders should keep in mind as we approach 2022: 

Pandemic, People & Preparedness 

The organizations invested their time, energy & efforts to strategise resilient pandemic planning, from technology driven remote working to ensure employees & their families wellbeing.

It wasn’t easy for industries and organizations to adapt and revamped immediately. Especially engineering and manufacturing industries had to ensure business continuity. From saving jobs to saving lives, HR leaders and their teams had to go through never ending pinching stress. The best side of covid pandemic is global connect & collaborations. Leaders collectively stood together to build a support network for handling crises and business as usual which in turn wasn't much different from a crisis situation.

HR functions need to be reinvented and transformed for 2022 in order to address forthcoming challenges.

HR stretched long hours to prepare organizations to recreate their policies keeping people’s well-being a priority.

The workforce will be different from traditional workspaces in the next few years. To deal with these changes, the HR function needs to completely transform itself to respond effectively. the fresh mindsets, skills and priorities will be considered to design a new workspace.

Prioritising people

There’s no doubt that the priorities of the HR function have shifted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its many effects include the mass transition to remote working, which brings with it fresh challenges to organizations, such as:

• How to measure productivity? 
• How to collaborate for innovation? 
• How to rebuild culture and embrace common values and goals?
• How to enhance employee experience?

HR leaders gear up taking steps to safeguard the experience and well-being of employees as a key priority for the HR function. There are no two views on employee productivity as a by-product of their well-being.

The wellness offerings have been revamped pertaining to these 3 Ss- Scope . Structure . Sincerity. The emergency COVID state gave a forced view into the indispensable importance of the wellness services.  The scope of wellness services widened to include spouses, family members for services like individual counselling sessions, family-based interventions, catering to concerns of aging parents of employees.

The human resources’ policies diversified their extent of inclusions pertaining to the various fields which were now appearing as a must to be catered to. 

The structure of the wellness services is too diversified, bothering horizontally and vertically.

Empowering people

Organizations are clearly understanding that they are in people business and the ability to empower its people is all about sustainability in an unseen future. Leaders are paying heed to connect the dots and  bring their team members together with the right technology to the table.. In a rapidly changing environment, strong relationships and connectivity are needed now more than ever. 

Most firms are now dedicated to cultivating an inclusive, purpose-driven, values-driven culture and giving opportunities for employees to thrive — all while tapping into their desire to conduct meaningful work.

Workforce Reshaping is a bedrock for reshaping the Organization

Organizations are hiring the right talent for building employee experiences, which in turn creates  a competitive edge. The infrastructure for increasing employee experience have multi faces and organizations had demonstrated :

What pathfinding HR leaders did in 2021 for Enhancing Employee Experience 

• Remote working: Working remotely allows employees to work in and closer to their comfort zones not just spatially but also with quite a stretchable flexibility.
• 2 weeks paid Covid-leave: The strategy of how breaks improve productivity has been into picture. 
• Vaccination drive: Organizations had sponsored vaccination for its employees. Conducted several sessions for breaking myths about Vaccine. Which encourages employees to break hesitation towards vaccination.Also speeded up back to office drive.
• Compulsory leaves for 4 days for vacation: Organizations are encouraging employees to have 4 days compulsory vacation leave. The paid vacation leaves are being granted to employees which helps not just in better and more sustainable working periods but also enhanced levels of creativity.
• Divergent Insurance plans: Organizations had incorporated Covid coverage.
• Investments in preventive mental health solutions: Resiliency & wellness studio, end to end solution for entire employee life cycle. Incorporating and Redefining the traditional EAPs toWidening the insightful view into MH

Organizations are confident that despite the ongoing uncertainties surrounding the pandemic the global economy will certainly recover. Despite the ‘pushed’ growth strategies truly show up as priority, the organisations desire to be able to achieve the natural upward growth curve while having insight into the future of their industry and employ talented people.  

The leaders have lately been putting forth employee well being at the heart of this transition and sustainable strategies for their organization.The changed weather is clearly calling for change of ways of approaching work.There would be no way forward other than people for people.The changed approach of the business leaders where they have realized that they have to be the driving force behind all the revolutionary changes and build resilient workforces who add to the organizational growth is the actual leadership mental revolution that these times have initiated. 

What is exciting is to envision what the future holds for us now that we have touched upon the core of humanitarian growth.