As businesses adapt operations to coronavirus conditions, employing new strategies and technologies, a strong HR chief has emerged as a crucial asset.
The role of chief human resource officer (CHRO), or chief people officer, was once seen as somewhat “soft” in nature. This perception, and certainly the reality, has evolved in recent decades, with chief HR officers gaining more status as the need for leadership in compliance, executive pay and succession planning grew. Skills shortages have made recruiting and retaining talent high priorities, raising the HR leader’s profile even more.
Then the COVID-19 crisis struck, pushing chief HR officers directly to the forefront of mission-critical leadership. Seemingly overnight, they have been charged with ensuring the health and morale of employees, implementing remote working on an unprecedented scale, and wrestling with life-altering decisions about layoffs.
The crisis comes amidst a proliferation of human resources technology. For example Diane Gherson, Chief Human Resource Officer for IBM, overhauled the tech giant’s performance management with big data. “Algorithms challenge managers’ instincts on pay and promotion and alert her team when employees are at risk of fleeing (often before they realise it themselves),” according to The Economist. Such “people analytics” have suddenly become more relevant.
Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Amazon, manages 1,000 developers focused only on human resources technology. The company previously invested in digital induction for new hires, and that forward-looking move is paying off. “We on-boarded 1,700 new corporate employees on Monday [March 16] alone,” Galetti said. As HR chiefs face the challenge of rapidly augmenting their workforces, such systems could be adopted more widely.
With existing teams, the challenge lies in boosting morale and motivation amongst remote workers. Mala Singh, Chief People Officer at video game company Electronic Arts (EA), represents the C-suite in the firm’s pandemic response group. They have been equipping employees with desks, computers, and noise-cancelling headphones for working at home. Singh is also digitally monitoring employee sentiment, knowing that the stress of balancing work and family life “does not enable productive work”, she points out.
Many HR chiefs are weighing whether to lay people off, how many, and when. Bill Schaninger of McKinsey suggests that rather than simply slashing workforces, HR heads should look into reconfiguring company work flows. The need to retain talent remains, and for some, the time is right to eye rivals’ talent. Now that everyone is working from home, says Gherson, no one is listening in on their calls. For an HR chief, “it’s the perfect opportunity.”
