Theory Review: HRM’s influence in enhancing employee experience during Covid-19

Abstract

Abstract COVID-19 impacted how businesses interact with employees. No longer an HR topic, employee experience becomes an important driver for the overall productivity. This paper aims to identify various HR approaches to enhance employee experience, during the COVID-19 pandemic since the growing number of studies investigating HR practices only complicates the people strategy design. The Covid-19 pandemic made companies painfully aware of the fragility of all established business rules, and the need to design frameworks that can “survive” the current vast economic changes (as the stock market boom, low interest rates, massive IT investments, the cryptocurrency, 5G telecommunications, electric vehicles, extensive digital transformation, inflation, and the so-called great resignation). An added lagging problem companies are facing is the insecurity brough by the global inflation, and thus the necessity to become a place where people find safety and security. This can hardly be achieved without the support of a seasoned HR team as an integrated business function. While most of these changes are not favored by neither people nor companies, they prove that everything is evolving. Employees nowadays require purpose, appreciation, and meaningful work and can no longer be left blindsided regarding the value they bring to the companies. One possible response is to design sustainable HR practices supported by superb technology/digital transformation as a necessity to ensure business continuity, especially with more and more people working remotely. As flexible/hybrid working models are going mainstream, people must be compensated more, and more fairly. Therefore, this paper discusses research around the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on employee experience. Investigating secondary data of existing studies, thought leadership, notable articles, best practices, etc. published between 2019-2021, it summarizes results showing that technology/digitalization and HR play critical role in the people management success midst the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper illustrates the current knowledge diversity in terms of sustainable practices that can be applied, changes in the people landscape, and implications for the future of the business. It can be concluded that midst the COVID-19 pandemic, sustainable HR practices are undoubtedly an attractive topic. By adopting an appropriate HR strategy, companies can achieve great employee experience, strong culture, and agility.