HR Bulletin Volume 115

HR BULLETIN

Building new workplace dynamics in a postCovid world

It's difficult to recall the last time we walked into an office building, punched our entry, and shared workstations with co workers without wearing a mask 'Work from Home,' 'Work from Anywhere,' 'Remote Working,' and other such terms have evolved into more than arcane jargon in a transformed work dynamic that is shaping the new normal Indian and global organisations across sectors have either adapted to and allowed their staff to work remotely indefinitely or have progressively transitioned to a hybrid model (work from Home + Office), with each company carving its own path to return to 'near normalcy.' Stepping into this altered realm of workspace has been arduous for both employers and employees, especially with the bubble of the pandemic hovering above our heads. As work life picks up the redefined pace, although not at maximum capacity, the following are a few evolving aspects and changing nature of the workplace that organisations or employers are evaluating for a smoother transition to the newer times

Adaptation to a virtual and hybrid ecosystem has laid the groundwork for upskilling and unfurled a new learning curve for the workforce.

Hybrid and remote work models

Perhaps the most immediate and far reaching Covid related impact on our work lives is the increase in remote work and the growing popularity of hybrid models of working, which combine work from home practices with in person work. Adapting to these has served as a beneficial transaction for both employees and employers. While the former partly saves on the cost and time of commute and enjoys more work life balance with increased flexibility and independence, the latter witnesses reduced business and overhead costs, higher retention rates, and a wider talent pool.

Augmenting humans technology interaction

The Covid 19 pandemic has demonstrated that people and technology are more powerful when they work together It is nearly impossible for technology to move forward without ample human intervention Artificial Intelligence (AI) may appear to take over a major chunk of operations, but instilling creativity is something that only humans are capable of doing Manufacturing, healthcare, education, and the transportation of crucial supplies are just a few examples of how human machine collaboration may help during a crisis. The amalgamation of AI and human resources holds the capacity to deliver stellar outputs. Organisations have the option to take this integration to the next level once the return to work process begins.

A recent report by the World Economic Forum forecasted that AI and Automation would collectively lead to about 97 million new jobs in the next three years.

The shift from time driven work to purpose driven work

For the longest, workplaces have had an orchestrated time schedule within which the task must be consummated. However, the post pandemic crises have rendered a realisation that a time oriented framework undermines productivity and in turn, effectiveness People have gotten accustomed to working from spaces that unclog their thought processes without a floating cloud of 'punching out' time overhead As per a survey conducted by Instahyre, an AI based advanced recruiting platform, 87% of companies reported a 36% improvement in productivity per employee as a result of teleworking

Rethinking the gig economy

After Covid 19, India's employment market is plagued by high staff turnover rates, and organisations across all industries are turning to freelancers or gig talent to address the demand supply gap. In recent years, the skills and talent deficit has fueled the growth of the gig economy, which has now witnessed an uptick due to the pandemic.

Because traditional employment arrangements are still uncertain due to the pandemic, firms will need to expand their use of gig workers post Covid 19 to be able to scale their workforce up and down as needed.

Social and mental wellbeing

While the first wave of the pandemic raised awareness of the hitherto overlooked issue of personal well being in corporate India, the second wave emphasised the significance of family health to employees' overall well being Employee well being now encompasses both criteria, and the impact is palpable Burnout and occupational stress are being addressed more intelligently by businesses The ongoing Covid problem keeps mental health and well being at the pinnacle of the CXO's priority list A framework for designing, implementing, auditing, and monitoring organisational wellness is a necessary precursor toward overcoming the crisis and establishing psychological protections.

According to recent research, poor mental health can result in a 35% drop in production and greater attrition rates. Hence, companies are becoming more aware of the value of their employees' mental wellness. It has been seen that employee morale and productivity, are both affected by poor mental health.

Upskilling employees

India’s technical infrastructure has undoubtedly evolved following the 2nd wave of the pandemic To get employees acquainted with this upgradation in technology, companies are now focussing immensely on talent retention and employee development programmes An adaptive model encapsulating evolved skills and mindset needs to be put in place to inspire innovation for what’s next and beyond Workers have been enhancing their skills and abilities in order to improve their skills and prepare for the current day, which requires technical knowledge, futuristic skill sets, and leadership characteristics in order to tackle the different challenges of the modern era

Four reasons why your brand needs a talent pipeline to stay ahead

Relationship recruiting or talent pipelining requires recruiters to develop long term relationships with people working in the same domain

Ask any hiring manager and they’ll tell you how the shrinking talent pool is making talent acquisition (TA) a total pain. Or maybe, they do have a flurry of resumes but unfortunately, none of them matches the current job opening. While sourcing is a great deal, especially with choked bandwidths, everyone is scrambling for top talent at the same time Awarm bench of talent can help one bypass the war for talent and still emerge victorious Let us explain Build a talent pipeline

After going through active candidates, HR leaders are now zeroing in on passive candidates who are a tough nut to crack So apart from keeping your brand game on point, what else can you do to attract them? The Talent pipeline is the process through which you build professional relationships with passive candidates and entice them to fill future openings While the whole process is based on the principle of relationship building, curating a talent pipeline requires you to be more proactive than just engaging in reactive recruiting. We have been constantly saying that the times have changed; what does this entail in the world of recruitment? Well, this means you get to be familiar with the entire talent landscape than just focusing on sourcing candidates. Imagine this; currently, you are hiring for a particular role and come in contact with a candidate who’s not looking for a change. Would you turn down that candidate? Yes, you would, but would you turn them down entirely? Your answer should be no because sooner or later, you will need them. Now some of us might mistake talent pipelines for a repository of resumes, but that isn’t true in its strategic sense Instead, it is a more calculated way of nurturing leads for long term benefits In a nutshell, a talent pipeline is a community of pre screened candidates to enhance the recruiters’ experience and their employers’ credibility

Here is all need to know about remote job hiring

With hybrid work becoming the norm, the demand for remote working is keeping up its pace and Elise Alva, Director of Career Services at the University of the Potomac, provides answers to the most googled questions related to this type of work.

Even while more businesses are asking employees to return to the office, the need for remote workers is growing If you type in "remote" into any of the major job search engines, thousands of results from various industries, at all levels of experience, will appear.

The University of the Potomac, a US based private university with career oriented programmes in both online and in campus settings, discovered that the number of Google searches for "remote jobs hiring immediately" has increased by 262% since 2021.

At the same time, searches for “work when you want remote jobs” grew by 556%, while searches for “remote positions” increased by 85% and reached an all time high

To help those seeking remote working, Elise Alva, Director of Career Services at the University, provides answers to the most googled questions related to remote job hirings

What skills should you include in your resume?

(Average of searches over the past 12 months: 5000)

Start by making it apparent on your resume that you are looking for remote opportunities You can include skills that apply to practically all employment jobs, such as marketing, computer, teamwork, and critical thinking skills.

Nowadays, everyone searches online regarding potential hiring, so it might be best to include your resume on LinkedIn as it connects you with professionals worldwide and aids in your success…

Following simple tips can possibly help you get a perspective in life for what you work for and what life really is.

When was the last time you pleaded on an online call “guys, give me just five minutes I will wrap up my lunch and join right back!”? Or is it a regular phenomenon? If you must literally beg for ‘your’ time to have lunch, isn’t there something fundamentally wrong with the way you manage your life? Who is running your life you or the situation?

Are you willingly paying a real cost for a notional benefit?

The lure of a raise, a better package, and a more visible role, while knowingly ignoring the real cost of lost health, compromised self and family time, and an opportunity to add dimensions to your life. Of the several things that COVID 19 instructed us, the most vital is that the work goes on even though life is fragile. A lesson which is fast fading as if the pandemic were a bad dream or a scary fiction. Here is the time to reclaim our lives, one meeting at a time.

Below are three practical tips on how you may bring more life to your work and put work where it belongs: Put a premium on your time

It all starts with knowing what’s the best utilisation of your time As Jeff Bezos puts it, “as a senior leader you get paid to make a small number of high quality decisions” It’s important to think like your boss’s boss and focus on decisions that you and only you can take and that will have a lasting impact For everything else, you have others or, better still, technology. Putting a premium on your time calls for an ability to prioritise incessantly and to let go of routine decision making. As a heuristic, any decision in which you don’t apply thinking is a good candidate to be delegated. And you will be surprised to find that quite many of your daily decisions may be under this category. You can then put your scant attention on ‘High Leverage Activities’, those that offer a significant and lasting impact for the investment done. Such as writing a blog, reading and reviewing a book, visiting a new place, or even taking a power nap…

Skills over degrees: How can businesses overcome the industry-skills mismatch for Tech Talent?

In this exclusive webcast in partnership with Scaler, industry leaders highlight how the tech talent shortage is real, and much of this gap is rooted in the expectation gap from companies

A core supply demand gap persists in tech talent. As Manmeet Sandhu, Chief People Officer, PhonePe, said, “There aren’t enough people trained in successfully managing engineering challenges in the current ecosystem” The key word here is “trained talent” As small companies set up shop, they do not have the luxury of bringing people in and taking them through extended learning programs to prepare talent Hence the demand for readymade talent believes Manmeet Organisations need to start thinking about these problems in a fundamental way As external organisations like Scaler help people get role ready, it requires positive disruption across the tech industry ecosystem

The tech skills landscape

In the tech landscape, engineering skills are often considered objective to assess in the tech landscape, compared to non tech roles. Manmeet shares how using hackathons and interviews for engineering hiring helps simplify and better the shortlisting process. Margaret Dsouza, Head of People Success, Zeta Suite, adds how the environment is crucial to skills success. “At Zeta, we build ownership at squad levels and provide growth opportunities by helping people take up roles beyond their immediate ones It is up to the individual to want to take the opportunities” Organisations must ensure they take talent along with them, curating learning journeys for upskilling talent even in emerging areas This requires a mindset of openness to give people opportunities For example, Zeta has people joining management roles and switching to product, basis their potential and learning curves Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder of Scaler, agrees that the T-shaped learning graph, with exposure to diverse fields, helps people perform better Margaret elaborates how this can be done with a two fold strategy i e •investing in raw talent from campuses and exposing them to a learning environment..