The recipe of resilience starts with “reassurance.”

A reassurance that there is a way to survive and thrive through any disruption with agility, adaptability, and innovation.

Remember the past?

There was a time, when a vaccine, on an average, took 10-15 years to develop. The mumps vaccine was the quickest to be developed, but it still took four years. The first vaccine to counter COVID-19 was out in just nine months. This shows the innovation and perseverance of the governments and individuals to reassure the world that we will revive.

Companies of today are no different. A black swan event strikes without notice, and organizations must be ready to respond, adapt, and thrive. Today, human resources (HR)  is at the driver’s seat and enabling organizations to become super agile and innovative and induce these reassurances amongst its most promising and prominent asset — people.

Business leaders have recognized this facet of HR. They are making significant investments to strengthen and modernize their HR teams to:

• Manage the evolving workplace dynamics of global and virtual teams, gig workforce getting into mainstream activities.
• Reskill the multi-generational workforce so it can respond to the rapid advancements in technology.
• Create cohesive policies for a diverse workforce keeping in view the sustainability ambitions.
• Stay compliant with the regulatory demands of the countries that the organizations operate in.

Redefining HR to rewrite the new business success story

Last year, many businesses underwent a huge change in a short span to respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic. Cloth manufacturers shifted their focus towards creating face masks and alcohol brewers started producing sanitizers. Other businesses have adapted to the new normal as well, including retail chains that were earlier focused on a personalized experience through their physical stores, recently evolved to completely go online. Each business reimagined its expertise and delivered to the situation in the best possible way.

Behind all these amazing business success stories stood their HR teams who:

• Engaged with teams to be productive during these trying times.
• Enabled rapid reskilling of the existing workforce.
• Enabled seamless processing of payroll and related functions.
• Adjusted policies to meet the new business and compliance needs.
• Onboarded the right talent to support the changing business needs.

New protocols are defining the model of a resilient HR organization. A 5C approach focused on the following key areas is reshaping how HR shall operate going forward : 

• Collaboration: Will hold the key in providing a consistent experience to global organizational units and in creating standardized processes.
• Cross-skilling: Will enable multi-generational workforces to align with the fast evolving technological landscape. 
• Control distribution: Will facilitate quick decision making and action.
• Coordination: Will steer a clear path to effectively coordinate between local and virtual workforces, including the gig workers.
• Competitive agility: Will propel innovation and create new outcomes.

Successful organizations of the future will be quick to react, equipped to adapt, and free to innovate. HR powered by technology will be the catalyst in accelerating business resilience through its cross-functional and cross-cultural expertise, constantly partnering with the workforce and building trust.

For more details on how you can be future-ready with a resilient HR, connect with us.